Ficlet: Dinner and a No
Author: rivlee
Title: Dinner and a No
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairing: Agron, Nasir. Agron/Nasir.
Summary: This is Nasir's new normal. Part of the Modern!AU.
Disclaimer: This is all fiction based off the characters as portrayed in the Starz television series Spartacus.
A/N: Unbeated ficlet time, ahoy!
“Why did you never try to be a SEAL corpsman?” Agron asked one night over dinner apropos of nothing.
Nasir stared at him and tried, desperately, to figure out his husband’s brain. They’d just finished talking about baseball and whether or not Bull Durham or Field of Dreams was Kevin Costner’s best baseball film. Such debates shouldn’t be the prelude to questioning of Nasir’s career history. The again, this was Agron and he was a Metzger.
Agron shrugged. “I was just thinking about it, how we met, the other night. The first time, with the IED.”
“I briefly recall that time, yes,” Nasir said. Sometimes he’d wake up and that distinct taste of sand, blood, and MOPP sweat clogged his mouth. He didn’t like those nights.
Agron’s look was clearly unimpressed but he continued on. “If Stern hadn’t been trying to patch up his own leg at the time, he would’ve been the one to work on me. It was fucking lucky your convoy passed by. I just wondered why you didn’t ever try for the lateral-change. You were comfortable working in-theater, not distracted at all. In fact,” Agron cocked his head, “why the hell were you on that aircraft carrier when I got gangrene?”
Nasir was still confused but answered anyway. “I was rotating home and they were short-staffed. I never tried for a SEAL corpsman because I know what I’m capable of and I’ve never been a fan of seeing how long I can hold my breath underwater.”
“You were in the Navy.”
“How the hell else was I supposed to get news about Dagan when he fucked off with Recon?”
“You joined the Navy to keep tabs on your brother in the Marines? Talk about a night of martial revelations.”
“That wasn’t the only reason,” Nasir argued.
Nasir, like Agron, had followed in the military footsteps of his parents. He wanted to make the memory of them proud. He succeeded, Dagan and Grandma assured him of this, yet doubt still sometimes settled in his brain. It was hard to please the ghosts of parents almost forgotten.
The past six months had been a lesson in transition. Nasir retired from the Navy, he married Agron, and then, after working two months as a civilian, he left Bethesda and the medical field behind. He’d seen enough of war and its costs first hand. Doc Bryan was the one who urged him to seek as much normalcy as he could. Nasir still volunteered to help on the weekends, he had too much experience with combat veterans not to, but he was getting used to his new job.
Everyone else in Nasir’s life was either former military or currently working for a branch of the government. Nasir was using his knowledge of the area’s flea markets working in an antiques store with Lucius. It was a hell of a change. At least he got to play favorite child-in-law with Mina Metzger.
The kick to his ankle brought him back to the conversation.
“There are other ways of getting my attention,” Nasir said.
Agron nodded. “Yes there are, however, you flat out forbade me from blowjobs in the dining room.”
“My grandmother eats at this table. Your parents eat at this table. Your godchild eats at this table and plays on this carpet. Do you have any idea what would happen if Mira found out you let Sadie eat and play in a place where any sexual activity took place? Not even Donar’s life-long-brotherhood love for you could save your ass. Both of our asses. Mira would kill us both, burn our bodies, and then salt our fucking graves.”
“So, that’s still a no then.”
Nasir threw his napkin at Agron’s head, pleased with his perfect aim.
“Hey, don’t get pissy because you were having an existential crisis over pasta.”
“I, you, you asked the question.”
Agron grinned.
Nasir’s narrowed his eyes. Fucker.
“I hate you.”
“I love it when you get worked up. Your eyes get all shiny and golden.”
“You really like sleeping on the couch.”
Agron scoffed. “I’ve conditioned you to be incapable of sleeping without me, don’t even front.”
It was true and Agron knew it. He needed the white noise of Agron’s obnoxious sleep-wheezing to get through the night. It was so bad he had to have fucking recordings of it when Agron went away for a conference. Duro and Saxa still wouldn’t let him live that shit down.
Nasir cut into his chicken with more force than necessary. “I’m starting to wonder why I married you again.”
“No one can resist my dimples.”
“At least not until you open your mouth.”
“You love my mouth and all the things it does for you.”
“Considering the James Joyce-esque week of texts you once sent me about my mouth, I think that statement needs to be revised.”
Agron pointed at Nasir’s plate. “Shut up and eat you dinner.”
“Eat yours,” Nasir said.
They exchanged a glance before bursting out laughing loud enough to disturb Jack from her sleep.
This was Nasir’s life now. It was dinner with random ass questions and snarky arguments. It was evenings spent fighting over what to watch on Netflix and inevitably messing up the couch cushions. It was mornings waking up with Agron wrapped around his body and Jack sleeping on top of his head. It was having a semi-normal 9-to-5-ish job with holidays and Sundays off. It was having time for cheering at Duro and Chadara’s softball games and going to every single Metzger family dinner. It was watching Chadara transition into becoming one of them and realizing he was counted among family by the Metzger clan. It was having time to help Grandma shop on Thursday afternoons so she could get the Senior Citizens discount and coming home with a car full of groceries for him and Agron because she worried they didn’t eat enough.
It was living. He got it now, what Doc Bryan tried to shard to explain when he told Nasir it was time to leave Bethesda and the Navy behind. It was living life for his own memories and for the pride and love of the man sitting across from him.
There was another kick to his ankle.
“What did I say about existential crises,” Agron warned.
Nasir pushed his chair back and carefully unwound the band holding back his growing hair. The curls came to just below his ears now. It was still enough to render Agron absolutely speechless.
“I’m sorry, love, what were you saying,” he teased.
The sound of dropped cutlery was Nasir’s only warning before Agron was halfway across the table.
This was Nasir’s life now and he was pretty damn okay with it.
Title: Dinner and a No
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairing: Agron, Nasir. Agron/Nasir.
Summary: This is Nasir's new normal. Part of the Modern!AU.
Disclaimer: This is all fiction based off the characters as portrayed in the Starz television series Spartacus.
A/N: Unbeated ficlet time, ahoy!
“Why did you never try to be a SEAL corpsman?” Agron asked one night over dinner apropos of nothing.
Nasir stared at him and tried, desperately, to figure out his husband’s brain. They’d just finished talking about baseball and whether or not Bull Durham or Field of Dreams was Kevin Costner’s best baseball film. Such debates shouldn’t be the prelude to questioning of Nasir’s career history. The again, this was Agron and he was a Metzger.
Agron shrugged. “I was just thinking about it, how we met, the other night. The first time, with the IED.”
“I briefly recall that time, yes,” Nasir said. Sometimes he’d wake up and that distinct taste of sand, blood, and MOPP sweat clogged his mouth. He didn’t like those nights.
Agron’s look was clearly unimpressed but he continued on. “If Stern hadn’t been trying to patch up his own leg at the time, he would’ve been the one to work on me. It was fucking lucky your convoy passed by. I just wondered why you didn’t ever try for the lateral-change. You were comfortable working in-theater, not distracted at all. In fact,” Agron cocked his head, “why the hell were you on that aircraft carrier when I got gangrene?”
Nasir was still confused but answered anyway. “I was rotating home and they were short-staffed. I never tried for a SEAL corpsman because I know what I’m capable of and I’ve never been a fan of seeing how long I can hold my breath underwater.”
“You were in the Navy.”
“How the hell else was I supposed to get news about Dagan when he fucked off with Recon?”
“You joined the Navy to keep tabs on your brother in the Marines? Talk about a night of martial revelations.”
“That wasn’t the only reason,” Nasir argued.
Nasir, like Agron, had followed in the military footsteps of his parents. He wanted to make the memory of them proud. He succeeded, Dagan and Grandma assured him of this, yet doubt still sometimes settled in his brain. It was hard to please the ghosts of parents almost forgotten.
The past six months had been a lesson in transition. Nasir retired from the Navy, he married Agron, and then, after working two months as a civilian, he left Bethesda and the medical field behind. He’d seen enough of war and its costs first hand. Doc Bryan was the one who urged him to seek as much normalcy as he could. Nasir still volunteered to help on the weekends, he had too much experience with combat veterans not to, but he was getting used to his new job.
Everyone else in Nasir’s life was either former military or currently working for a branch of the government. Nasir was using his knowledge of the area’s flea markets working in an antiques store with Lucius. It was a hell of a change. At least he got to play favorite child-in-law with Mina Metzger.
The kick to his ankle brought him back to the conversation.
“There are other ways of getting my attention,” Nasir said.
Agron nodded. “Yes there are, however, you flat out forbade me from blowjobs in the dining room.”
“My grandmother eats at this table. Your parents eat at this table. Your godchild eats at this table and plays on this carpet. Do you have any idea what would happen if Mira found out you let Sadie eat and play in a place where any sexual activity took place? Not even Donar’s life-long-brotherhood love for you could save your ass. Both of our asses. Mira would kill us both, burn our bodies, and then salt our fucking graves.”
“So, that’s still a no then.”
Nasir threw his napkin at Agron’s head, pleased with his perfect aim.
“Hey, don’t get pissy because you were having an existential crisis over pasta.”
“I, you, you asked the question.”
Agron grinned.
Nasir’s narrowed his eyes. Fucker.
“I hate you.”
“I love it when you get worked up. Your eyes get all shiny and golden.”
“You really like sleeping on the couch.”
Agron scoffed. “I’ve conditioned you to be incapable of sleeping without me, don’t even front.”
It was true and Agron knew it. He needed the white noise of Agron’s obnoxious sleep-wheezing to get through the night. It was so bad he had to have fucking recordings of it when Agron went away for a conference. Duro and Saxa still wouldn’t let him live that shit down.
Nasir cut into his chicken with more force than necessary. “I’m starting to wonder why I married you again.”
“No one can resist my dimples.”
“At least not until you open your mouth.”
“You love my mouth and all the things it does for you.”
“Considering the James Joyce-esque week of texts you once sent me about my mouth, I think that statement needs to be revised.”
Agron pointed at Nasir’s plate. “Shut up and eat you dinner.”
“Eat yours,” Nasir said.
They exchanged a glance before bursting out laughing loud enough to disturb Jack from her sleep.
This was Nasir’s life now. It was dinner with random ass questions and snarky arguments. It was evenings spent fighting over what to watch on Netflix and inevitably messing up the couch cushions. It was mornings waking up with Agron wrapped around his body and Jack sleeping on top of his head. It was having a semi-normal 9-to-5-ish job with holidays and Sundays off. It was having time for cheering at Duro and Chadara’s softball games and going to every single Metzger family dinner. It was watching Chadara transition into becoming one of them and realizing he was counted among family by the Metzger clan. It was having time to help Grandma shop on Thursday afternoons so she could get the Senior Citizens discount and coming home with a car full of groceries for him and Agron because she worried they didn’t eat enough.
It was living. He got it now, what Doc Bryan tried to shard to explain when he told Nasir it was time to leave Bethesda and the Navy behind. It was living life for his own memories and for the pride and love of the man sitting across from him.
There was another kick to his ankle.
“What did I say about existential crises,” Agron warned.
Nasir pushed his chair back and carefully unwound the band holding back his growing hair. The curls came to just below his ears now. It was still enough to render Agron absolutely speechless.
“I’m sorry, love, what were you saying,” he teased.
The sound of dropped cutlery was Nasir’s only warning before Agron was halfway across the table.
This was Nasir’s life now and he was pretty damn okay with it.