Page 43 of Pistols and Plush Toys

Still, he wanted to see Nikolai again. Even though Elliot hated how stupid he’d been, unaware of what Mattia had done, was willing to do, now Elliot was desperate to know more. He needed to know more about who exactly his boyfriend was. He needed to beaware.No more ignorance.

Nikolai was the only person who could answer Elliot’s questions.

He gave Apricot one last squeeze and then hid the plush toy back in his backpack. Nikolai had seen Apricot several times now, and certainly the man couldn’t have missed the giraffe with the way Elliot had been clutching it when he’d been dragged out of bed that morning, but so far Nikolai hadn’t said a thing. Not one derisive remark—not even an eyeroll at seeing Elliot with something so childish.

It was an unexpected thing about being here. A nice, unexpected thing.

Still. Elliot didn’t want to press his luck. Nikolai got angry the same way Mattia did—sudden and without warning, even if he did apologize after the fact in a way that Mattia didn’t. Elliot didn’t want to risk Apricot being the fallout the next time Nikolai was upset. Elliot could weather bruises and skinned knees well enough. Getting another plush snatched out of his hand to be ripped apart or shoved into the garbage would be—

It would be hard. It would be so much harder.

Eventually there was a rap on the door.

“Come in,” Elliot said.

The door unlocked and opened, and there was Nikolai.

“Ready for lunch?” He asked.

Elliot was.

***

“I’m get you something,” Nikolai said just as they were finishing up lunch. It had been mostly silent, Elliot’s insides twisting at the thought of asking Nikolai more about Mattia. He’d tried his best to eat what he could. All he could hope was that he didn’t lose it again.

Now he was thrown off-kilter. He’d been waiting until after he’d eaten to try to bring up the difficult subject so he wasn’t put off his food, but hadn’t been expecting Nikolai to be the one to break the silence.

“You… got me something?” He asked.

“Yes,” Nikolai said. “Wait here.” Then he was striding from the room.

Elliot blinked after him owlishly. Nikolai had just… left him alone? But Nikolai never left him alone. The only time Elliot was ever left unsupervised was when he was locked in the bedroom, bare of anything Elliot could use to aid in escape.

He cast a furtive glance in the direction of the kitchen. Nikolai had been so adamant that Elliot not be allowed to be free to get near the knives or other kitchen tools, but even if Elliot was a more defiant or brave person, he couldn’t even imagine that trying to use a weapon would do anything but end very badly for him.

Maybe he didn’t expect to get out of his situation alive anymore, but there was still no reason to speed up the clock.

Instead, Elliot started to clean up the dining room table. Nikolai had ordered from Red Chile again, maybe as a peace offering, and while Elliot had only finished half of his burrito bowl, he didn’t want it to go to waste. He placed the cover back on the take-out container and then gathered it and the rest of the uneaten food and took it into the kitchen to put in the fridge. Then he went back to the dining room for the used napkins and empty containers and plastic utensils to take them to the trash.

Nikolai had silverware of course, but Elliot was just now realizing that maybe they weren’t using it because a metal utensil was a better weapon than a flimsy plastic one.

Elliot had just finished stuffing the garbage into the trash when Nikolai strode into the kitchen, face a thundercloud. Elliot froze with one hand still over the trash can as Nikolai’s piercing blue eyes swung in his direction.

He watched Nikolai look him up and down, followed by Nikolai glancing through the opening that led to the dining room, then to the knife rack, which was untouched, then back to Elliot.

Elliot hopped a step away from the trash can and rubbed his damp palms on his pants.

“Thank you for putting food away,” Nikolai said after a moment. He was holding a paper bag with string handles, which he set down on the kitchen counter.

“You’re, um, you’re welcome,” Elliot said.

“Here.” Nikolai nodded at the bag. “Is for you.”

Elliot approached the counter and peeked inside the bag. Then his eyes widened as he took in what was inside.

“You got me puzzle books?” He breathed as he started to pull them out. There was a huge variety. A book of crosswords, another of cryptograms and word searches. There were two sudoku books for varying skill levels, and a numeric and logic puzzle book. All of them looked brand new and made for adults.

At the bottom of the bag was a fresh, unopened pack of mechanical pencils.

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