#YES I'M AWARE THAT SLIT'S STAPLES ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE

[method-to-the-madness]

@littlewritingrabbit said something about War boys doing each other's war paint, and I thought that was really cute, so here's some fanart of Nux and Slit, and a teeny tiny little fic i wrote to go along with it (below the cut, around a thousand words). It takes place on their very first trip as a Lancer/Driver duo.

Enjoy :)

Nux sat down on the running board of his car, the door open. He had black clay cupped in his hand. He used his other hand to smudge it over his eyes, hoping it’ll look darker. Darker like the Imperators. 

Something huge was in the works today. A big fight, something really major, and the War boys were buzzing with excitement, currently trapped within the confines of the garage and the barracks until they’re unleashed, feral. There was about ten odd minutes before they needed to leave, and Nux wanted his paint to be really chrome this time, since it was the first time he got to drive his own car. A car that belonged to him. The Nux Car. 

���Oi! Nux!” Slit called, and rounded the door, sitting down next to him after roughly pushing him to the side to make room. Nux grinned, and turned to him still rubbing the powder over his second eye. 

“Ready? Ready to do war?” Nux leaned forward and asked with childlike excitement. Slit leaned on the door frame and crossed his arms, kicking his feet up on Nux’s knees. Slit was starting to get taller than him, proudly taking up more space.

“Of course I am!” he said indignantly, like Nux had insulted him by suggesting that he wasn’t.  

“Good. Wouldn’t want you fallin’ off the back while I’m driving,” Nux said, smudging some paint over his nose like usual. 

“Wait!” Slit grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away from his nose.

“What?”

“Your nose.”

“What about it?” Slit was still holding his wrist, looking very revved up. He opened his choppy mouth to say something, but paused like he thought twice for once. The slices up the sides of his face were still a bit red, and definitely not healed over yet. If it were up to Nux, he would’ve done them one side at a time, so you’d still be able to eat properly, and do the second side without your hands being all shaky. But that was just his thoughts on it.

“Thought you said you wanted it all shiny today, didn’t you?” Slit asked. Nux nodded, and Slit let go of his wrist. “So don’t just do the mediocre paint you do every day,” Slit said. Nux looked offended. Mediocre? Really? Nux thought the nose paint usually looked pretty chrome. 

“What do you want me to do then?” he asked. Slit shrugged. 

“I dunno. Could do something to match these-” he carefully tapped the still-healing scars on Nux’s lips. Slit had given those to him, detailed them really sharp so he’d look like a skeleton. Nux loved them. He thought they made him look a whole lot shinier. And scarier. Slit ran his thumb across his lips, probably just checking on the healing process, but something pinched in Nux's throat regardless. 

“V8, quit smiling so wide all the time, it’ll rip the scars and you’ll get too lumpy,” Slit muttered, almost like he was saying it to himself. Nux batted his hand away.

“The paint, Slit. What about it?” He redirected. Slit nodded. 

“C’mere, give me some,” he said, and took some from Nux’s hand. With his other hand, he roughly grabbed Nux’s jaw, and pulled him close, holding his canvas still. Nux nearly fell over at the sudden movement, and braced himself on the driver’s seat under Slit's arm. “If you do it… like so…” Slit paused, and Nux felt him dragging the paint over his nose, higher up than he usually did. “Then you’ll look soo…” he trailed off and squinted, finely focused on his work. Nux’s eyes crossed trying to see what he was doing. 

“So what?” he asked. Slit finished up his paint, and pushed him back, letting go of his face. Nux sat back against the door frame 

“So chrome,” Slit said, and frowned, then pulled him back again to fix up some of the paint. 

“Glory me, you sap. Can we go make some war now, or will you keep fussing over my face?” Nux laughed, turning away. Slit’s hands chased after him, to throw the finishing touches on his paint. Nux stood up to check his reflection in the grubby side-view mirror on the other side of the door. 

“I’m no sap!” Slit protested, standing up and following him. He shoved Nux’s shoulder, sending him stumbling towards the car. 

“Cut it out! I can’t even stand long enough to see what you’ve done to me!” Nux protested half-heartedly. He bent down to look in the mirror. 

Usually he would just smear some black over his nose vaguely in a circle shape, but Slit had taken some more clay and spread it pointy up the sides of his nose like a skeleton. 

“Yeah?” Slit asked, like he was looking for Nux’s approval. 

“Very shiny,” Nux smiled in the mirror before standing up. 

“Very shiny,” Slit agreed. 

From across the garage, the Ace yelled, “WAR BOYS! MOVE OUT!” Everyone echoed it, spreading the command like fire through the garage. 

Nux punched Slit’s shoulder as a goodbye, and got into the driver’s seat while Slit climbed onto the lancer’s perch at the back. Nux opened the roof so he could hear better, and shut the door. His fingers drummed on the wheel, in time with the Doof's drums.

Once they were on the ground under the elevator, all the Drivers got in formation, every vehicle being taken filed out into the open air of the Citadel. They idled in the sunlight, buzzing with held in kamakrazee excitement. Everyone was shaking all feral-like, ready to get out on the open road.

“WE ARE WAR BOYS!” The Ace shouted from the front. 

“WAR BOYS!” they all chorused. Nux stuck his head out the window to be heard better, and felt Slit bang on the roof in tempo with the chant. 

“VIOLENT CRAZY WAR BOYS!” The Ace shouted. 

“WAR BOYS!” The ensemble screamed back at him. Nux could hear Slit on the back of the truck, and his heartbeat thrummed in his ears. It’s his day. 

“TODAY WE’RE FIGHTING BUZZARDS!” The Ace announced. 

“BUZZARDS!” The War Boys shouted back. 

“AND TODAY WE’RE RAIDING NOMADS!”

“NOMADS!” 

Every driver revved his engine as the Ace climbed back onto the war rig. Nux banged on the ceiling twice, and Slit whooped from the back. 

“MOVE OUT!” The Ace called. They couldn’t really hear him over the roar of engines, but they all knew he said it. Then they took off, leaving behind dirty clouds, and spraying sand in their wake.