Title: "a fortune in feelings"
Author: monimala
Fandom: As the World Turns
Rating/Classification: adult language. Slash/Kasnoffcest implied. Angst. Mike/Nick.
Disclaimer: The dialogue is taken directly from the 6/2/06 episode, except for the last few lines.
Summary: 300 words. Nick's dying. It's pretty much self-explanatory. LOL. And absolutely not my fault! Thumb stroking is GAY.
"I promise you, we're gonna figure this out. Just like when we were little kids." There's not much to figure out. Nick is dying. But Cuz has always been a little slow on the uptake.
"It's going to be okay, Man." No, no, it's really not. There's no way around it.
"Don't think this it, Man. All right? Don't give up. I am right here. You keep fighting. You stay strong."
That's easier said than done.
It hurts like a motherfucker…not that he ever expected getting shot to be pleasant…but what hurts worse is that he can see Katie, out of the corner of his eye, wringing her hands and crying and he thinks her pink mouth is shaping words like "sorry."
"Sorry," is a little late and not enough but he says the word, too, "Mike…"
"I'm right here, Buddy. I'm right here." Like always. Except all those times that he wasn't.
"Mike…Mike, I'm sorry…" And there's blood in his throat and he chokes and he feels Mikey's thumb against his skin, smooth, comforting, warm…because he's so fucking cold…
Just like when they were little kids. Mike used to warm him up. Called him the Iceman while they read and reread X-men comics in their clubhouse. He wonders if Mike's thumbs still taste like PB&J…if he could just turn his face a little…but, God, it hurts and hurts and hurts.
Go away, Katie, he thinks. No Girls Allowed. Mikey was mine before he was yours.
He's still dying on the stretcher.
Dying even more in the ambulance and the siren is so loud…he can barely hear Mike telling him to hang on.
"Stay with me, Nicky. Damn it, Iceman…"
"Stay with *me*," he gasps.
Mike was always slow on the uptake.
But not now.
His lips burn. Like Hell.
--end--
June 3, 2006.