Title: at the end of the year
By: Caroline Crane
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: A day in the life. 1038 words.
A/N: Another prompt ficlet, for jujuberry136, who requested Nick/Greg and 'surprise', like, a month ago, I guess? For a long time I was all, 'How on earth can I put a fresh spin on the concept of surprise? I have already done surprise celebrations and surprise birthday gifts and surprise secret santas and surprise booty calls during work-related trips. There's nothing left.' But then my iPod solved my problem, as usual, by playing "Surprise Ice" by Kings of Convenience. I would post the mp3 for you, but I'm at work so I can't. Which is a shame, because the song really did inspire the fic.

The cabin featured in this fic is the one from that poison ivy fic I wrote this summer, which makes this part of the Pancake series by default. I have a cabin fetish, it's true. I'm not even sorry about it.

The sun's just peeking over the tops of the pines on the other side of the lake when Nick wakes up. He slides out of bed without moving the covers or the mattress any more than necessary, slipping his feet into a waiting pair of slippers and pulling a thermal shirt over his head as he lets himself out of the bedroom. He stops in the bathroom before making his way toward the kitchen, intent on coffee and maybe a quick glance at the paper before Greg wakes up. He's not supposed to be reading the news on this vacation; he promised to take a break from the rest of the world, to let somebody else worry about fixing things for a change.

It's an easy promise to make, but not so easy to keep, as it turns out. He's spent most of his life fixing things, and when he can't fix them he's at least tried to give people answers as to why whatever happened to them went down the way it did. It's his job -- was his job -- and just turning it off is harder than he expected it to be.

Greg knew, but Nick's willing to admit now that Greg's always known him better than he's ever known himself, so it doesn't really surprise him. Nick smiles at the thought and scrubs a hand over his face, chasing off the last remnants of sleep as he reaches the door to the kitchen. A flash of orange catches his eye and he glances toward the living room, half-expecting to see some sort of explosion or maybe a fire out the picture windows that span the wall that faces the lake. But it's just the sun doing its thing, painting streaks the color of fire across the sky. The glare off the window flashes in his vision again and he realizes that's what he was seeing; just the sunrise reflecting on the glass. Nick crosses the room anyway to stop in front of the window, arms wrapped around himself to ward off the chill coming in through the glass.

It's an old cabin, mostly empty in the winters, but now that they've got nowhere to be at this time of year, they've been spending more time up here. Which means it's time to install new windows, and Nick wonders briefly if he should tackle the job himself. He imagines Greg's reaction to that idea and laughs to himself, makes a mental note to call a professional once the stores are open. There was a time when he would have lobbied for the practicality of doing the job themselves, but he was younger then and they spent their winters in the desert, not on a frozen lake in the middle of Wisconsin.

He's watching frost spread across the glass when a hand lands on his waist, another one reaching around him to hold a hot cup of coffee in front of him. Nick grins and takes the mug out of Greg's hand, catching warm fingers with his free hand and squeezing before he lets go. "I didn't hear you get up."

"Couldn't really sleep with you out here thinking so loud."

Nick laughs and turns to face Greg, leaning in to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Thanks for the coffee."

"You're welcome," Greg answers, arms sliding around Nick's waist to pull him close. There are lines around his mouth when he smiles now, and some of the hair at his temples is lighter than it used to be. Not that he'd ever let Greg catch him using the word 'gray', but the truth is Nick kind of likes it. He knows Greg would never believe it, because Nick's never been the most demonstrative guy when it comes to their relationship, but he can catalog all the changes in Greg since they met. He can trace the entire history of their relationship in the lines of Greg's mouth, the old, faded scars on his back and neck, the way his knee gives him trouble every time it rains. He can point to every mark on Greg's skin and say how it got there, right down to the way he felt when he ran his fingers over it the first time.

So a little gray in his hair doesn't bother Nick; it's just another reminder of how far they've come, and the fact that they've managed to stick together even when it felt like everything else was falling down around them.

"So what were you thinking about so hard?" Greg asks, and Nick doesn't miss the flash of tension in his eyes.

"Windows," Nick says, and when Greg frowns at him he laughs. "If we're going to be spending more time up here in the winter, we should replace these old windows. They let in a lot of cold air and that means higher electricity bills. Can't keep you in expensive coffee if we're letting all our money drain out through the windows all winter."

Greg relaxes against him as Nick lifts his coffee and takes a sip, grinning over the rim of the mug. "I don't hear you complaining about my coffee."

"Yeah, well, you ruined me for the cheap stuff years ago."

"It was all part of my plan. I got you hooked on my coffee so you couldn't live without me."

"Pretty good plan." Nick leans in for another kiss, coffee-flavored this time and when Greg lets out a muffled 'mmm' against his mouth, his stomach flutters in a way it hasn't done for a long time.

"Of course it was a good plan," Greg says when he pulls back. "I've always been the smart one."

After all these years Nick knows better than to argue, especially when Greg's right. So he grins and lets Greg slide the coffee mug out of his hand, placing it on the nearest flat surface before he grips the front of Nick's shirt and pulls him toward the hall that leads to the bedroom. "I have another good plan."

"Oh yeah?" Nick says, grinning as he lets Greg steer him down the hall.

"Let's go back to bed and enjoy our retirement for awhile."