Chapter Text
The first time it happens is during chow after Sobel ordered Dick to find imaginary infractions and delegate appropriate punishments to the 'offenders'.
Maybe it's because Dick is so caught up with Sobel's tyranny, but he doesn't even see when Nix very blatantly scoops some of his meal right onto his own plate. They continue the conversation as if nothing happened. Dick because he hadn't noticed, and Nix because he was too amused by his usually calm friend's display of mild annoyance towards the incompetent higher-up to bother pointing it out. One of the many things that's great about Dick, is even in the rarest times where Nix has seen him annoyed, the best the stoic man can manage is mild annoyance. He had the patience of a saint.
Nix smiles, trying not to be too obviously entertained, and continues to eat his now slightly larger portion of food.
----
The second time it happens, Dick notices. It would be a bit concerning if he hadn't, considering he was looking right down at his food when Nix swipes his slice of untouched bread. Nix knows Dick saw it this time (not that he was trying to be stealth the first time), and he holds the bread in his hand, waiting to see if he would be scolded for stealing it. Despite this possibility, he finds it difficult not to grin.
Did he have the maturity level of a 5-year-old? Possibly.
Dick acknowledges the action by flicking his gaze from the piece of bread to his friend's twinkling eyes and holds contact for a few beats. But he says nothing and continues eating, which was the exact reaction Nix was expecting from the oh-so-serene Dick Winters. If he could hardly get properly annoyed with a basket case like Sobel, then there's no way he could be any level of annoyed with Nix's childishness.
At least, that's what Nix hoped to be the case.
As Nix took a bite out of the stolen bread, he could've sworn he saw the corner of his friend's mouth twitch upwards ever so slightly.
----
The two men eat together often. Not because they are officers, but because they are friends. Neither has vocalized it, but they both find that no matter how hardly tolerable the food they are served is, the experience is always made better with the other being present.
Each time, without fail, Nix takes something off Dick's plate.
Sometimes it's his slice of bread, sometimes it's a scoop of whatever monstrosity of bean stuff is served on the side. On a special occasion where they have spaghetti, Nix nonchalantly sticks his fork into the pasta on Dick's plate, twirls some of the strands onto it with ease, and pops it into his mouth without breaking eye contact while Dick speaks to him. Dick glances down at Nix's plate, then back up to his eyes, as if to silently say 'you have an entire plate of the exact same meal as me, what was the point of that?'. He doesn't say it, but Nix knows he probably wants to. The thought alone is enough for him to break into the most ridiculous grin ever.
Nix full on cackles, though, when Dick lightly chides him for smiling with his mouth full rather than for intentionally stealing his food for seemingly no reason.
----
It quickly becomes a routine part of their meals, and it happens so often that Nix hardly notices he does it anymore. Dick either remains silent when he had not been speaking while Nix snags some of his food or continues talking like nothing had happened when he is in the middle of saying something.
But ever since the second time, he's always seen it.
To be fair, Nix never once bothered to be discreet about his thievery, but still. Dick always knows, whether he was even looking or not. It's almost as if he developed a strange sixth sense for it.
Once, Dick had been gazing out the window next to him, eyes never leaving whatever it was he was looking at out there as he subconsciously nudged his plate forward so Nix had better access to what he wanted off it. Nix raised his brows in genuine surprise, fork still mid-air, and was even more amazed when he realized Dick himself didn't seem to realize he had done it. Dick just knew.
After that particular incident, it was more frequent for Dick to nudge his plate closer when he knew Nix was ready to strike. Nix was even more astonished by this, because he hadn't even pointed that out to Dick when he did it the first time and hadn't noticed. These times were definitely intentional. Yet still, Dick said nothing about it, and in turn, neither did Nix.
Nix found it oddly endearing.
----
Finally, Dick says something about it. It wasn't what Nix was expecting, because at that point he expected nothing but the usual interaction.
"Maybe I should be charging you," he murmurs quietly as Nix chomps down onto Dick's slice of bread. Nix pauses mid-chew, meeting Dick's blue eyes with his own. He knows Dick more than anyone, maybe even himself, so he knows Dick actually does have a sense of humor sometimes, contrary to what others who don't know the man well believe.
He finishes chewing and swallows to avoid getting scolded for talking with his mouth full before he replies.
"You'd be a very wealthy man if you'd started when I had," Nix smirks, leaning forward onto his forearms.
Dick smiles, one of those small but genuine ones Nix likes, and says, "Probably more than you, at this rate. I'd have drained you of all your fortune."
Nix laughs at that, because it's true. Then he stops, looks at the slice of bread in his hand, then back up at Dick. For the first time since this whole thing started, Nix looks uncertain. This catches Dick off guard, because in the time he's known him, seeing Nix being uncertain is very rare.
One of the many things Nix appreciates about their relationship is how he doesn't need to say things aloud for Dick to understand what he's communicating.
"I..." Dick trails off as he pauses to choose his words carefully. Nix stares at him, unwavering. But he still has that look on his face that Dick knows is an unspoken question. He continues, "I enjoy eating with you."
It's not a direct answer to the silent question, but Nix understands the implication. He relaxes, and when his mind catches up to what Dick said to him, he beams before he can stop himself. He takes another bite, his confidence restored. Dick stares at him a bit, a smile on his face that is a bit too fond for Nix to keep looking at, so he looks away.
Nix had subconsciously wondered before if Dick was ever bothered by what Nix always does when they eat, but he figured the man probably wasn't. It just didn't seem like him to be. Not just because he never did anything about it, but because it was Dick, and another one of the many great things about Dick is that he was the most tolerant and unbothered person Nix knew. Maybe that's why they worked together so well. Where Nix was brazen, Dick was subtle.
This was the only time his suspicions had been confirmed, and it was comforting to know that he actually did know Dick as well as he assumed he did.
Then, as if he'd read his mind, Dick soothes his vanishing worries further by for the first time taking a scoop of food off his own plate and carefully spooning it onto Nix's.
That was definitely new. Nix met his gaze again, and smiled wider than he had the first time. He understood what it meant. 'It's okay'.
He felt a bizarre tightness in his chest, something mixed with fondness, bewilderment, and amusement when he realized Dick Winters was probably the only person he could think of that would not just allow, but would encourage Nix to take from him.
He didn't know what to do with that realization, so he just kept eating.