Title: New Beginnings
By: Serenity
Summary: Pre season one, Greg's still finding his feet in Vegas while Nick's finally putting down roots. Dialogue heavy ficlet.
Characters: Nick, Greg
Genres: romance
Rating: PG
Warnings: none

Nick poured a generous amount of light blue paint into the tray and handed Greg a roller. "Thanks for helping me out with this, man." he smiled as Greg began applying the paint to the wall.

"It's no problem." Greg assured.

"No, I mean it. Warrick was supposed to help me, but he cancelled at the last minute, really screwed me over actually. You've really saved the day, I've got to get this room finished by this afternoon so the flooring can go down and I'd never get it done alone." Nick wiped at the bead of sweat already forming on his forehead. It was already shaping up to be a sweltering day.

"I didn't have to be a fallback, you know." Greg said quietly, never breaking the movement of the roller.

"Sorry?" Nick asked, confused.

"I mean, I would still have come and helped out even if Warrick was here. Or was I just pure desperation?"

"Of course not!" Nick exclaimed. "I just figured you would have better things to do than help me decorate my new place. I mean, it's not as if we hang out much after work or anything. We're not exactly friends, are we?"

"You don't think of us as friends?" Greg asked in a steady, inquiring voice.

"Well, I do, but.... It's not like we have that much in common." He bent to load his brush with more paint. "You've got your own style and lets face it, it's pretty different from mine."

"So?" Greg asked. "Doesn't mean we can't be friends. Just because we have different interests doesn't mean we don't get along, or don't like each other. I do like you, Nick. A lot actually. You‘re a good guy. I may not have known you that long, but I do know that."

"I like you too Greg, of course I do." He stopped painting and sighed. "Look, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I just figured you'd have more interesting ways of spending your time than painting my house. Knowing you."

"I think this is plenty interesting." Greg grinned and dotted his fingertips with paint, pressing them on Nick's cheek in a neat row. "So what exactly do you mean by ‘knowing you'?"

Nick stayed silent for a moment, the only sound in the room being the slap of his paintbrush and two heartbeats. "Well...." he began finally, "you're young and good looking and I bet you go clubbing every chance you get, and your taste in music is way beyond me. Me, I'm nearly 30, I like country, I get excited by a good pair of boots I can wear with jeans and my idea of a good date is conversation over a well-done steak and a glass of red."

"You think I'm good looking?" Greg grinned, reloading his roller and slapping the paint on haphazardly. "I'm flattered."

"Crap, trust you to pick up on that bit." Nick rolled his eyes. "Yes, OK? I'm sure you're beating the ladies off with a stick. Now shut up and paint."

"Looks like you don't know me after all. " Greg chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly into girls. Sometimes I am, but mostly not."

"You never said." Nick stopped painting, almost dropped his brush.

"It's not something that comes up in regular work conversations." Greg shrugged, laying down his roller. "But I'm not ashamed of it or anything."

"No, no." Nick stammered. "That's not what I meant. I mean.... I kinda..... Yeah. Me too. Um.... Yeah. I've not told anyone else here though. I don't know why I just told you, it wasn't planned or anything. But I am."

"It's cool Nick. I have pretty good gaydar, I kinda figured. Beer break?" Without waiting for an answer Greg downed tools and wandered over to the cooler he'd brought, pulling two ice-cold beers from it and tossing one to Nick. "To new beginnings, huh?"

"New beginnings." Nick toasted. Greg repeated the gesture, coming over to stand close to Nick.

"So...." he smiled before taking a long pull on the bottle. "Where are you taking me for steak?"