#my roommate was supposed to go to kickball this morning so i keep waiting for her to leave but she's knocking around in the kitchen

[mildmayfoxe]

my sister left this morning and i finished my book so now i have nothing to do :/

[cheeseeatingtrashmonster]

Camp Counselor AU

Nelix Week day 5: Roommates.

Read the whole month on AO3

Roommates

“Why are you doing this, again?” Gabriel asked as he and Felix followed the Gorilla down a dirt road surrounded by pine trees.

"Work experience. Because it gets me out of the house. Because the program came highly recommended by my guidance counselor at school. But to be honest, the thought of seeing you surrounded by nature while dropping me off was more than enough."

"This is a waste of your time. You could have spent your summer studying or practicing your violin."

"Yes, seeing you, saying that, with actual trees behind you is worth all the sunburns and bug bites and screaming children this summer could possibly give me."

At the door to Felix's cabin Gabriel said his goodbyes.

"You'll be calling for a ride home within three weeks," was Gabriel's last words before leaving with the Gorilla.

The cabin was small, six sets of bunk beds lining the walls with lockers and a clothes hanging bar against the back wall. Felix took the top bunk in the back left corner and unpacked some of his things into one of the lockers. He was reviewing his schedule for the rest of the first day when the door banged open again.

"Why are there rocks everywhere?"

Felix looked up to see a very frustrated young man lugging a pair of suitcases and a sleeping bag behind him up the steps into the cabin.

"Are you Nino?" Felix asked, reaching to hold the door open for the newcomer.

Nino looked up and forgot the toe he had stubbed on a rock outside the door, and how tired his arms were from lugging his bags around, and that the sun was giving him a headache. The exact words that entered his mind the moment he saw Felix Agreste were, "Oh no, he's hot."

"Here, give me a bag," Felix said, reaching to help. Somehow this resulted in both of them dropping all of Nino's belongings on the floor.

"Well now I'm glad I left my laptop at home," Nino muttered, picking up a bag and lugging it to the top bunk in front of Felix's.

"I would hope so," Felix said. "There's no internet signal in most of the buildings and we weren't supposed to bring them anyway."

"Why not? I didn't bring it because I didn't want some punk kid breaking it. I didn't know we weren't supposed to."

"You seem ill-prepared," Felix said, setting Nino's second bag on top of the row of lockers.

"This was not my first choice summer activity," Nino said. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I would have given it if you had answered when I asked yours."

He's hot and kind of a jackass, Nino thought. "I'm Nino. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Felix said, trying not to roll his eyes at the obvious sarcasm from his co-counselor. "I'm Felix."

"Well, Felix," Nino said, climbing up on top of his bunk and starting to make his bed. "What did you do wrong to spend a summer in Hell?"

"I'm here voluntarily." Felix climbed to his bed to see Nino better. "I like working with kids. I want to be a teacher someday."

"Fair enough. Ugh, is it always this hot in here?"

"I brought a box fan, but it won't do much," Felix said. "But I hear it cools off at night. Why are you here, if it wasn't your first choice?"

"My parents basically said that I needed to get a job and get out of the house more, and most of the places I applied wouldn't take me, so here I am." Nino sat back against the wall behind him. "It's not that I don't like kids, and I get to teach some of the music and drama classes, which will be fun. But I'm more of an air conditioning and wifi guy than campfires and swimming in lakes."

Felix nodded. Maybe this grouch he was rooming with wasn't quite as unpleasant as his first impression would have him believe. "I'm sure I'll have trouble adjusting to the accommodations, but I'm just as happy with a book in the sun as a book inside."

"I'm a Kindle guy myself," Nino said. "You ready to head down to orientation?"

"Sure," Felix said, grabbing his sunglasses. "I look forward to working with you this summer."

"You too."

/*****/

“Felix!” Nino yelled from the middle of the cabin. “You are the only person in the entire camp who irons their clothes. Why are you also the only one unable to understand that you can’t leave wet towels in the middle of the floor or open boxes of candy in your luggage?”

“My personal appearance and the amount of experience I have keeping my own environment aren’t in any way related.”

“I’m pushing you in the lake at the swim race tomorrow.”

“Jokes on you, we have opposite schedules tomorrow. I’m at the crafts table while you’re at the lake.”

"Then who's gonna remind you not to glue your hand to your shirt again if I'm not there?"

/*****/

"Nino," Felix whispered, trying not to alert the cabin full of half asleep nine year old boys. "Are you awake?"

"No."

"Nino, there's a spider over my head and it's horrifying and I seem to be paralyzed by fear."

"Fine, give me your book," Nino said, dragging himself from his sleeping bag to climb across the gap to Felix's bunk.

The loud "thunk" of the book smashing into the spider made three of the boys scream.

/*****/

"What are you doing?" Felix asked, holding out the ice cream cone he had bought for Nino.

"If I stand in exactly the right spot on top of this picnic table I get enough of a signal to check Twitter."

"You have a problem."

"I'm aware." Nino felt something cold hit the side of his hand. "When did I get ice cream?"

"You have a serious problem."

"I know, dude."

/*****/

"Sit with me at the bonfire."

Felix had crept up behind Nino and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Nino didn't jump like he'd hoped, but he did shiver when Felix's breath hit his skin.

"And why would I do that?" Nino whispered back, watching two of their campers try to skip rocks while two others competed to see who could scream louder.

"I'll share my s'mores with you."

Nino wasn't sure if Felix was being intentionally suggestive or if his mind was making everything dirtier, but he knew there was no way he was sitting with anyone else that night.

/*****/

"It's been four weeks," Felix said, leaning over to Nino's bunk. They now slept so that their heads faced each other, making it easier to talk without disturbing their campers.

"It's the middle of the night, Felix," Nino said, squinting at him through sleepy eyes.

"My father said I'd never last three weeks."

"We'll celebrate this weekend when the kids are gone," Nino said. "We'll plan it in the morning. I swear I'm excited for you, but I'm going back to sleep now."

/*****/

"Why are you even here if you can't follow basic instructions?" Felix snarled. "Did it not occur to you that despite how dull your job is, it is actually important to get it right?"

"Felix what the hell?" Nino said, trying to be quiet so he didn't get in trouble for swearing in front of campers again. "You can't speak to people like that."

"She almost handed Greg a plate with strawberries on it," Felix said. "Even after he handed her the meal card that said he was allergic. Even after he said out loud 'no strawberries'. I still had to turn around and see her almost hand him a plate with strawberries."

"Okay, go take a walk," Nino said, putting a hand on Felix's shoulder and guiding him to the door. "No harm was done, and I've got this from here, okay?"

"Watch her," Felix said, glaring back at the lunch lady.

"I will."

/*****/

"How is it that every Friday I can't wait for the kids to leave, but every Sunday morning I can't wait for the new ones to get here?" Nino asked, sitting next to Felix on a log overlooking the sun setting on the lake.

"I don't know, but Saturday evening is definitely the magic spot between the two," Felix said. He stole a glance at Nino's profile before looking back at the oranges and reds and purples before them.

"You need to up your sunscreen game, bro," Nino said, reaching a feather-light finger over to brush against Felix's cheek and down his nose. "You'll be a lobster before the summer's over."

"Maybe you're just making me blush," Felix said, catching the hand and holding it between them.

/*****/

"Felix, stop buying me ice cream," Nino said, flopping onto his back in the grass of the athletic field. "I'm going to get fat."

"You swam so much today, I seriously doubt that," Felix said, not looking up from his book. "Bobby, don't throw the ball at people's faces!"

"Are we supposed to be teaching them anything right now?" Nino asked, looking at the group of campers running wild with a variety of kickballs, soccer balls, and baseballs.

"I now declare this free play time," Felix said with a sweeping gesture with the hand not holding his book. "The ones that need to blow off steam will tire themselves out, the ones that need to rest will sit in the shade and gossip." He looked up from his book to sweep his gaze over Nino's form next to him in the grass. "You're definitely not getting fat. And I enjoyed watching you swim today."

"Yeah?" Nino pulled his hat over his face but it didn't hide his smirk. "Maybe we should go swimming together on Saturday."

"Maybe."

/*****/

"What's the first thing you'll do tomorrow when you get home?" Felix asked as they packed up as much of their belongings as they could on their last night, the last set of campers having left that afternoon.

"Nap, then eat something that doesn't smell like the kitchens here, then go online and become a lump on the couch until my brains fall out my ears. You?"

"Shower in a shower that has water pressure, nap, and then go to the library."

"Cool," Nino said, zipping his bag halfway shut. "And what about the day after that?"

"After that?" Felix asked, stretching idly as he pretended to think. "I was thinking of you."

"Cool," Nino said, crawling up to his bunk.

"Cool," Felix said, walking over to shut off the light.

Nino reached out and pulled Felix to him by the front of his shirt for a kiss.

“Cool.”