SN Fic: A Little Piano
Oct. 1st, 2009 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereTitle: A Little Piano
Author: out_there
Fandom: Sports Night
Word Count: 1,830
Casey looked at the expectant faces of his co-workers. They had gathered around the table, ostensibly to make sure Dan sung Happy Birthday off-air, but Casey had the feeling there was something else going on. "Why is there a piano on my cake?"
"Can you just cut the cake already?" Natalie asked, gripping her camera.
"I want to know why there’s a piano on my cake." He hadn’t noticed it before. In the half-dark, lit by a lot of birthday candles, they’d sung to him. He’d noticed Danny’s enthusiastic voice and he’d blown out the candles, but he hadn’t seen the piano until they’d switched the lights back on.
"It’s a chocolate cake, Casey. It came with the piano," Dana said indulgently. "It’s not going to start playing music."
"Is it really a chocolate cake?" He loved chocolate cake, but Dana wasn’t always the best choice at matters which should be sweet and calorie rich.
"It’s really chocolate cake, Casey. Swear to god. Danny came and helped me pick it out," Dana replied. Casey looked over at Dan, who nodded and confirmed Dana’s story.
"But why is there a piano on my cake? I work in sports broadcasting. I could understand a baseball, or a basketball, or a hockey stick, but why a piano?"
Dana sighed. "Came with the cake, Casey. Consider it just an extra bit of pretty chocolate."
"But still..." Casey looked down at the top of the cake. In the middle of the dark frosting sat a small white chocolate piano. And a little piano stool. "I can’t help wondering why I didn’t get a piano player to go with it."
Natalie gestured at the knife in Casey’s hand. "Casey, it’s a chocolate piano on a cake. Cut the cake, so I can take the picture and eat the chocolate. This is not something that needs to be discussed."
Jeremy pitched in, "I think Natalie’s right."
"Thank you, honey." Somehow, Natalie managed to smile at Jeremy and glare at Casey, at the same time. It was impressive.
"Okay," he said soothingly and reached over for a plate. Gently, he lifted the piano off the top of the cake and placed it on the plate. Then he moved the stool over, too.
"What are you doing?" Dana asked.
"I’m saving it for Charlie. He likes white chocolate. Besides, it’s got little black and white keys, and everything. You can’t just cut something as detailed as that."
Dana rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything else as he started to cut slices. Dan beamed at him and wrapped an arm around Casey’s shoulders, saying, "I’m claiming that piece. It looks like the biggest."
"You know, Danny, when I said I played a little piano, I didn’t mean I played a little piano," Casey joked and Dan snickered.
***
After the cake, they opened a few bottles of wine and turned the music up. When you generally work past midnight, any excuse for a party is appreciated. Casey opened his gifts and everyone danced for a while. Then Kim suggested they all go over to Anthony’s. Since the wine was gone, everyone agreed it was a good idea.
Casey was neatly stacking his presents in his office when he realized that Danny and Dana seemed to be missing in action. He told the others he’d find them and they’d meet up at Anthony’s.
Wandering down the deserted hallway, he heard Dan’s voice.
"Pay up."
He turned and saw them standing in Dana’s office. Dana was looking through her purse and saying, "I can’t believe you won."
"I can’t believe you thought he’d cut the piano," Dan said, holding his hand out. "It’s Casey. Saying he’s pedantic is like saying the Pope’s vaguely religious. Total understatement."
Dana laughed and handed over a few bills. "Still, I thought he would have cut it."
Casey rapped on her open door to get their attention. He forced himself to smile. "Guys?"
Dan grinned at him. "Hey, Casey. What happened to the party?"
"We’ve all decided to go over to Anthony’s. Everyone else has already left. I’m just making sure you two don’t get left behind."
***
Casey had managed to sit at a different table from Dana and Dan. He’d laughed and drank with Elliot, Kim and the rest, and left Dan and Dana with Natalie and Jeremy. But eventually, everyone had to go home. He ended up sitting at an empty table, drinking beer and eating peanuts, while Dan and Jeremy had the fun of a rather drunk Natalie. When the two lovebirds started playing footsie under the table, Dan wandered over to him.
"Hey. You feeling a bit lonesome all by yourself?" Dan asked as he sat down at Casey’s table. "You’ve been a bit quiet tonight. I’d almost say you were sulking."
Casey couldn’t help the incredulous tone. "You bet on me?" He took a breath and forced his voice to sound a little more mature. He wasn’t sulking. "I mean, on my birthday. You actually bet on me?"
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I bet on you."
"On my birthday?"
"On your birthday," Dan said, with a cheeky grin.
Casey made sure he didn’t sound as petulant as he felt. "I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules."
"What rules?"
"The Rules," Casey said, gesturing at the air. "The rules of friendship, Danny."
Dan grinned and swallowed a mouthful of beer. "There’s rules to friendship? That implies there’s a rulebook. I’ve never seen a rulebook."
Casey shot him a sideways glare and adjusted his collar.
"Why didn’t I get a copy of it?" Dan couldn’t keep the smile off his face as Natalie and Jeremy came by to make their goodbyes. "Natalie, how come I didn’t get a copy of the Rules to Friendship?"
"I don’t think there is a Rules to Friendship. I’ve never heard of it," Jeremy said, looking at Natalie.
"There’s rules to dating," Natalie said. "You know, The Rules? All about how to hook a guy by following these outdated dating techniques?" Jeremy looked at Casey and shrugged. Casey shrugged back.
"Are those the rules you were talking about, Casey?" Dan took a deep swallow of his beer. It should have been impossible for Danny to keep the smirk on his face, but Casey would swear he had.
"No, Dan. I was talking about rules to friendship. In a civilized society, we have rules. It’s how we work. There isn’t a huge rulebook, we just know them."
Dan just raised an eyebrow at him, but Jeremy came to his defense. "Unwritten rules are the glue that holds all societies together. It stops us from becoming savages."
Natalie beamed at Jeremy. "Is that a quote from somewhere?"
"Not that I know of," Jeremy replied thoughtfully, and Casey tried not to cringe at the use of a preposition. "Anyway, we were just leaving, so we’ll see you guys tomorrow."
"Have a great birthday, Casey," Natalie added, and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.
Casey watched them leave. "Did they bet on me?"
"Nah," Dan said casually, as he placed his glass back on the table. "Just me and Dana."
"So it was just my two oldest friends. Who bet on me. On my birthday."
"You’re seriously annoyed about this?" Danny sounded amused.
"You bet on me. On my birthday." Casey crossed his arms over his chest, which just caused Danny to snicker at him. "I think I have a right to be a little upset."
"It was just a bet, Casey."
"On my birthday!" It was his birthday and Casey was pretty sure it shouldn’t have been used to mock him. "What kind of friends place bets with each other?"
"You and Dana?" Danny replied immediately.
"That’s not the same. We don’t place bets on you." Casey ran a hand through his hair and wished that Danny could stop looking so amused. "It’s not like we wager on what you’re going to say, or what you’re going to wear..." It was infuriating that Danny wasn’t even trying to contain his laughter. "Or the next time you screw up on-air. Or when you’re going to need to see a new shrink."
Danny stopped laughing. Casey had the sudden realization that he’d stepped so far beyond the line, he could barely make it out in the distance behind him.
Casey felt his mouth go dry. "I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean that..." He trailed off and stared at the table, waiting for Danny to explode, or implode, or just leave in a huff. He had every right to be offended.
"Case?" Dan’s voice was low and quiet, but Casey didn’t look up until he felt Danny’s hand on his arm. He was surprised to see that Danny was smiling again, but this time the smile was more fond than amused. "We weren’t doing it to be mean, Casey. We were just having fun. We weren’t making fun of you."
Casey nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, I know. It just..."
"Felt that way?"
He nodded again. "Yeah."
"We weren’t doing it to be mean," Danny said again. "We weren’t doing it to point out that you’re uptight, uncool and highly particular. We already know that about you, Casey."
"Gee, thanks." If Casey was cooler, that would have come out sounding unconcerned and sarcastic. As it was, he was still uncool and he just sounded petty and hurt.
"It’s true, Casey. It’s also true we all love you for it," Danny said as he wrapped a hand around the back of Casey’s neck. "You wouldn’t be the same guy if you didn’t compulsively organize your conversations, or if you didn’t have highly particular tastes about cake. And we wouldn’t love you half as much. You’re the guy who’ll always refuse to cut the piano. And that’s cool, Casey." Danny pulled his hand away and finished the rest of his beer.
Casey had to ask. "It’s cool?"
Dan nodded. "It’s cool that you’re so uncool."
Casey shook his head gently, but he was smiling. "I don’t think I’ll ever get the rules to being cool."
"We need a rulebook," Danny said, grinning.
Casey squinted in concentration. "But aren’t rulebooks inherently uncool? So, wouldn’t following an uncool book about how to be cool actually make you uncool?"
Danny spoke slowly, "Yeah, but there’d be a lot of people being uncool in the same way. Which might just make it cool."
He just blinked at Danny, trying to follow his logic, and then just laughed. "We’ll just leave it at you’re the cool one. I can understand that."
Danny nodded. "And you’re the uncool one, who’s really damn cool." He grinned again, and then added, "You want another drink? My treat?"
"Okay," Casey said, and then looked skeptically at Dan, "Why your treat? You’re not normally quite so generous, Danny."
"Well, it’s your birthday and we’ve got to celebrate," Danny said, beaming at him. "Besides, it’s Dana’s money."
Author: out_there
Fandom: Sports Night
Word Count: 1,830
Casey looked at the expectant faces of his co-workers. They had gathered around the table, ostensibly to make sure Dan sung Happy Birthday off-air, but Casey had the feeling there was something else going on. "Why is there a piano on my cake?"
"Can you just cut the cake already?" Natalie asked, gripping her camera.
"I want to know why there’s a piano on my cake." He hadn’t noticed it before. In the half-dark, lit by a lot of birthday candles, they’d sung to him. He’d noticed Danny’s enthusiastic voice and he’d blown out the candles, but he hadn’t seen the piano until they’d switched the lights back on.
"It’s a chocolate cake, Casey. It came with the piano," Dana said indulgently. "It’s not going to start playing music."
"Is it really a chocolate cake?" He loved chocolate cake, but Dana wasn’t always the best choice at matters which should be sweet and calorie rich.
"It’s really chocolate cake, Casey. Swear to god. Danny came and helped me pick it out," Dana replied. Casey looked over at Dan, who nodded and confirmed Dana’s story.
"But why is there a piano on my cake? I work in sports broadcasting. I could understand a baseball, or a basketball, or a hockey stick, but why a piano?"
Dana sighed. "Came with the cake, Casey. Consider it just an extra bit of pretty chocolate."
"But still..." Casey looked down at the top of the cake. In the middle of the dark frosting sat a small white chocolate piano. And a little piano stool. "I can’t help wondering why I didn’t get a piano player to go with it."
Natalie gestured at the knife in Casey’s hand. "Casey, it’s a chocolate piano on a cake. Cut the cake, so I can take the picture and eat the chocolate. This is not something that needs to be discussed."
Jeremy pitched in, "I think Natalie’s right."
"Thank you, honey." Somehow, Natalie managed to smile at Jeremy and glare at Casey, at the same time. It was impressive.
"Okay," he said soothingly and reached over for a plate. Gently, he lifted the piano off the top of the cake and placed it on the plate. Then he moved the stool over, too.
"What are you doing?" Dana asked.
"I’m saving it for Charlie. He likes white chocolate. Besides, it’s got little black and white keys, and everything. You can’t just cut something as detailed as that."
Dana rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything else as he started to cut slices. Dan beamed at him and wrapped an arm around Casey’s shoulders, saying, "I’m claiming that piece. It looks like the biggest."
"You know, Danny, when I said I played a little piano, I didn’t mean I played a little piano," Casey joked and Dan snickered.
***
After the cake, they opened a few bottles of wine and turned the music up. When you generally work past midnight, any excuse for a party is appreciated. Casey opened his gifts and everyone danced for a while. Then Kim suggested they all go over to Anthony’s. Since the wine was gone, everyone agreed it was a good idea.
Casey was neatly stacking his presents in his office when he realized that Danny and Dana seemed to be missing in action. He told the others he’d find them and they’d meet up at Anthony’s.
Wandering down the deserted hallway, he heard Dan’s voice.
"Pay up."
He turned and saw them standing in Dana’s office. Dana was looking through her purse and saying, "I can’t believe you won."
"I can’t believe you thought he’d cut the piano," Dan said, holding his hand out. "It’s Casey. Saying he’s pedantic is like saying the Pope’s vaguely religious. Total understatement."
Dana laughed and handed over a few bills. "Still, I thought he would have cut it."
Casey rapped on her open door to get their attention. He forced himself to smile. "Guys?"
Dan grinned at him. "Hey, Casey. What happened to the party?"
"We’ve all decided to go over to Anthony’s. Everyone else has already left. I’m just making sure you two don’t get left behind."
***
Casey had managed to sit at a different table from Dana and Dan. He’d laughed and drank with Elliot, Kim and the rest, and left Dan and Dana with Natalie and Jeremy. But eventually, everyone had to go home. He ended up sitting at an empty table, drinking beer and eating peanuts, while Dan and Jeremy had the fun of a rather drunk Natalie. When the two lovebirds started playing footsie under the table, Dan wandered over to him.
"Hey. You feeling a bit lonesome all by yourself?" Dan asked as he sat down at Casey’s table. "You’ve been a bit quiet tonight. I’d almost say you were sulking."
Casey couldn’t help the incredulous tone. "You bet on me?" He took a breath and forced his voice to sound a little more mature. He wasn’t sulking. "I mean, on my birthday. You actually bet on me?"
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I bet on you."
"On my birthday?"
"On your birthday," Dan said, with a cheeky grin.
Casey made sure he didn’t sound as petulant as he felt. "I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules."
"What rules?"
"The Rules," Casey said, gesturing at the air. "The rules of friendship, Danny."
Dan grinned and swallowed a mouthful of beer. "There’s rules to friendship? That implies there’s a rulebook. I’ve never seen a rulebook."
Casey shot him a sideways glare and adjusted his collar.
"Why didn’t I get a copy of it?" Dan couldn’t keep the smile off his face as Natalie and Jeremy came by to make their goodbyes. "Natalie, how come I didn’t get a copy of the Rules to Friendship?"
"I don’t think there is a Rules to Friendship. I’ve never heard of it," Jeremy said, looking at Natalie.
"There’s rules to dating," Natalie said. "You know, The Rules? All about how to hook a guy by following these outdated dating techniques?" Jeremy looked at Casey and shrugged. Casey shrugged back.
"Are those the rules you were talking about, Casey?" Dan took a deep swallow of his beer. It should have been impossible for Danny to keep the smirk on his face, but Casey would swear he had.
"No, Dan. I was talking about rules to friendship. In a civilized society, we have rules. It’s how we work. There isn’t a huge rulebook, we just know them."
Dan just raised an eyebrow at him, but Jeremy came to his defense. "Unwritten rules are the glue that holds all societies together. It stops us from becoming savages."
Natalie beamed at Jeremy. "Is that a quote from somewhere?"
"Not that I know of," Jeremy replied thoughtfully, and Casey tried not to cringe at the use of a preposition. "Anyway, we were just leaving, so we’ll see you guys tomorrow."
"Have a great birthday, Casey," Natalie added, and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.
Casey watched them leave. "Did they bet on me?"
"Nah," Dan said casually, as he placed his glass back on the table. "Just me and Dana."
"So it was just my two oldest friends. Who bet on me. On my birthday."
"You’re seriously annoyed about this?" Danny sounded amused.
"You bet on me. On my birthday." Casey crossed his arms over his chest, which just caused Danny to snicker at him. "I think I have a right to be a little upset."
"It was just a bet, Casey."
"On my birthday!" It was his birthday and Casey was pretty sure it shouldn’t have been used to mock him. "What kind of friends place bets with each other?"
"You and Dana?" Danny replied immediately.
"That’s not the same. We don’t place bets on you." Casey ran a hand through his hair and wished that Danny could stop looking so amused. "It’s not like we wager on what you’re going to say, or what you’re going to wear..." It was infuriating that Danny wasn’t even trying to contain his laughter. "Or the next time you screw up on-air. Or when you’re going to need to see a new shrink."
Danny stopped laughing. Casey had the sudden realization that he’d stepped so far beyond the line, he could barely make it out in the distance behind him.
Casey felt his mouth go dry. "I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean that..." He trailed off and stared at the table, waiting for Danny to explode, or implode, or just leave in a huff. He had every right to be offended.
"Case?" Dan’s voice was low and quiet, but Casey didn’t look up until he felt Danny’s hand on his arm. He was surprised to see that Danny was smiling again, but this time the smile was more fond than amused. "We weren’t doing it to be mean, Casey. We were just having fun. We weren’t making fun of you."
Casey nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, I know. It just..."
"Felt that way?"
He nodded again. "Yeah."
"We weren’t doing it to be mean," Danny said again. "We weren’t doing it to point out that you’re uptight, uncool and highly particular. We already know that about you, Casey."
"Gee, thanks." If Casey was cooler, that would have come out sounding unconcerned and sarcastic. As it was, he was still uncool and he just sounded petty and hurt.
"It’s true, Casey. It’s also true we all love you for it," Danny said as he wrapped a hand around the back of Casey’s neck. "You wouldn’t be the same guy if you didn’t compulsively organize your conversations, or if you didn’t have highly particular tastes about cake. And we wouldn’t love you half as much. You’re the guy who’ll always refuse to cut the piano. And that’s cool, Casey." Danny pulled his hand away and finished the rest of his beer.
Casey had to ask. "It’s cool?"
Dan nodded. "It’s cool that you’re so uncool."
Casey shook his head gently, but he was smiling. "I don’t think I’ll ever get the rules to being cool."
"We need a rulebook," Danny said, grinning.
Casey squinted in concentration. "But aren’t rulebooks inherently uncool? So, wouldn’t following an uncool book about how to be cool actually make you uncool?"
Danny spoke slowly, "Yeah, but there’d be a lot of people being uncool in the same way. Which might just make it cool."
He just blinked at Danny, trying to follow his logic, and then just laughed. "We’ll just leave it at you’re the cool one. I can understand that."
Danny nodded. "And you’re the uncool one, who’s really damn cool." He grinned again, and then added, "You want another drink? My treat?"
"Okay," Casey said, and then looked skeptically at Dan, "Why your treat? You’re not normally quite so generous, Danny."
"Well, it’s your birthday and we’ve got to celebrate," Danny said, beaming at him. "Besides, it’s Dana’s money."
