Celli's SN fic
Dec. 3rd, 2003 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereAha! We have Celli's SN fic done. Of course, it still needs to be beta'd (I'd ask Celli, except the fic is for her, and it's dodgy making her beta her own gift), but the rough version is done.
If you feel like offering beta services, I will love you forever!
Dan had come to the conclusion that napping was vastly underrated. Yawning, and stretching out a little on the couch, he decided that it had to be one of the top five Most Enjoyable Activities in life. Well, definitely the top ten.
Blinking at his watch until the glowing numbers came into focus, he realised it was only 4.30pm. He could easily get away with another hour down here. Tonight's script was already written, so he probably wouldn't be missed. It wasn't a great script, but it would do.
He leaned over to the coffee table and fished for the remote, turning CNN up just a little. Then he rolled over, closed his eyes, and pretended to listen to the monotonous voices. That was the great thing about napping. It didn't matter if you woke up, you could just relax and doze off again. So he did.
* * *
Casey had decided that searching for Danny was one of the irritating and frustrating passtimes known to mankind. Casey had been looking since Dana burst in with a last minute update on the football ruling from today's game. It only required a tiny alteration of their script; an extra thirty seconds on one story, and thirty seconds less on the hockey match, but then he'd realised there was no point making hockey jokes. There was no Dan to share them.
Last time he'd seen Dan had been half an hour since Dana came in. Dan had said he was going to wander around the office and probably bother Jeremy. Casey hadn't asked for any further details, and had just gone back to what he was doing, pretending to work on his computer (while he actually played Minesweeper. And lost. Badly.).
Since then, Casey had spent the last twenty minutes trying to work out where Danny was. He wasn't hanging around with Elliot or Kim, he wasn't in editing with Jeremy (and considering Jeremy was making out with Natalie in there, that was almost reassuring), and he wasn't with Dana and Isaac in Isaac's office. In fact, he didn't seem to be anywhere on their floor. Casey knew; he'd personally walked around and checked each room.
That inferred that Dan had left. But as far as Casey knew, Danny didn't have any plans for today. No special afternoon dates, no required shopping visits, and no medical appointments. It was unlike Dan to leave without telling someone where he was, and no-one seemed to know. As a last resort, Casey had checked with the security guys in the foyer, feeling like an idiot who didn't even know where his partner was.
According to them, Dan hadn't left the building.
That was even more frustrating. It meant that Danny was somewhere in the building, hiding from him. Casey decided it would be more productive to find Danny first, and then worry about the reason for his behaviour. Plus, if Danny was hiding from him, he had a fairly good idea why.
So, he checked the staff cafeteria on the tenth floor, even though Danny never ate there, and that was where he found his first clue. He ran into Monica from wardrobe, who smiled at him and asked why Danny had been wandering around the fourteenth floor.
"He was on the fourteenth floor?" Casey didn't even bother trying to hide his confusion. Generally, he found people were more helpful when you looked as if you'd have trouble working out how to turn a door handle.
She smiled at him, and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, he was looking around there about an hour ago. Mentioned that he was looking for your office. I thought you shared an office with him?"
"Um... yeah, we do. It's... it's a long story," he replied, smiling. At least now he knew where he should be searching. "Thanks, Monica."
She bobbed her head to the side, and then shrugged. "Not a problem."
Casey walked back over to the lifts. Now he had a plan. Firstly, go back down to reception and see if they knew where his office was. Secondly, find his office, and thirdly, hopefully find Danny in it.
* * *
Danny woke up, blinking in the dark room. Lifting his hand up from under his head, he flexed his fingers until the numbness, and the pins and needles, went away. For such a strange sensation, it could be ridiculously painful.
Make-up would appreciate if it didn't look like he'd only got a few hours sleep last night. And yawning on air wouldn't be a good idea. Looking over at his watch, he figured he could get away with another ten minutes rest.
Dan rolled over to his side and pulled his legs up on the couch. Snuggling into the cushions, he let his eyes fall shut again and relaxed.
* * *
Apparently, Casey had made the right choice by claiming Danny's office as his own (well, their own). His actual office was on the fourteenth floor, several floors away from the studio, and according to the plans, had no natural light whatsoever. There seemed to be no windows at all.
Walking down the corridor, following the sketched plans in his hand, Casey knew he would have really missed the window in their office. There was something wonderful about seeing New York at night, seeing the city lit up by hundreds of tiny lights. That view was one of the best things about his job.
Turning yet another corner, Casey couldn't help thinking that this floor was designed to be a labyrinth. The corridors were defined by solid walls, filled with harsh, artificial lighting and stretched around corner after corner. It felt as if it was a seperate building, not a seperate floor.
Distracted by the difference in decor and atmosphere, he almost walked straight past the wooden door with "Casey MacCall" written on it. Even though he'd never used the office, Casey was still a little offended that they couldn't spell his name right. Casey opened the door, walked inside and closed it behind him.
Then he stood there and blinked in the sudden darkness. The only light in the room was a small TV tuned to CNN. After a minute of watching the latest report on some plane crash, and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, Casey looked around the room. The plans had been right, at least as far as the no windows thing went. It was a bit bigger than their current office, with a larger desk and similar couch. There was a table on one side, a little bigger than theirs, with four chairs around it, and a high shelving unit on one wall. From what Casey could see, there was a TV, a small stereo, a VCR, and... a DVD player? He and Dan needed to remember to take that up to their office. No use letting it go to waste down here.
However, the biggest difference between this office and their current one, was that this one had Danny in it. To be precise, it had a sleeping Danny, curled up like an overgrown five year old, on the couch. Dan had one arm tucked under his head, and the other twisted in his shirt, resting near his chin. Casey noted Dan's socked feet, but in the semi-darkness, he couldn't see where Dan's shoes were.
This was where Casey's plan ran out. He'd found his office, he'd found Danny, and now he wasn't sure what to do. If Danny had been hiding from him, he probably hadn't intended to fall asleep. It wasn't quite as easy as just asking Danny straight out. He didn't want to sound like an idiot if he hadn't been hiding.
He watched Danny sleeping peacefully, and decidedit would be easier to just leave and let Danny sleep. If Danny didn't show up within an hour of going on air, he could always come down then and wake him. He was just about to leave, when he heard Danny's sleep-muffled voice.
"Case?" Danny was scrubbing at his eyes, and Casey was reminded yet again of an overgrown kid. Danny ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more, and yawned. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you hiding from me?" Maybe it was as easy as just asking.
Danny glared up at him, blinking groggily. "What?"
Casey cringed. "I just... I came to find out if you were avoiding me."
Dan's brows furrowed. "Why would I be avoiding you?"
"Well, I just thought... " Casey shifted his weight on his feet, looking off to the side. "that after last night..." This was the reason no-one thought he was cool.
Dan shook his head. "No, I get that. Why would you think I was avoiding you?"
"I just..." Casey took a deep breath, and resolved to stop starting sentences that way. "You weren't there. And no-one knew where to find you."
"Oh," Dan said, and stretched an arm over his head, making his shirt ride up over his stomach. "I needed a nap."
"You disappeared to sleep?" Casey asked incredulously, watching as Dan stretched his other arm, revealing a few more inches of bare skin.
"Not to sleep, Casey. To have a nap. There's an important difference," Dan added, as if everyone knew the difference between napping and sleeping. It was the same tone of voice Dan used when Casey had asked if there really was any difference between a strappy sandal and a normal sandal. As if it was a wonder that Casey had made it through thrity-something years of life without knowing this fact. Dan must have seen the lack of understanding on Casey's face. "Sleeping implies hours, Casey. It implies comfort, and a bed, and probably waking up to an alarm. Napping is short-term, on any comfortable surface, and is generally done best with constant background noise," Danny finished, pointing at the television.
"Okay." He had the feeling there were a few flaws in Dan's argument, but it wasn't worth arguing it. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that we were okay."
"We're fine. Why wouldn't we be?" Dan asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Because I lied." And this was the reason they had scripts when they were on air, so Casey didn't just say the first thing that popped into his head. Well, generally the first thing was fine; it was something random, some useless but intriguing fact that could fill up an empty twenty seconds. It was just speaking to Dan that he needed a script. He tended to say honest things that he really shouldn't say.
"You lied?" Danny's voice was soft and casual, but in the uncertain light from the television, his gaze was intense.
Casey opened his mouth, then closed it before the words 'I just' had a chance to escape. After a pause, he settled on sticking to the truth. "Yeah."
"So, last night," Dan started, as he moved to sit up straight on the couch. Dan was utterly calm; his face was closed and composed; his voice was just that right mix of friendly and professional that worked so well on air. "When you kissed me," Dan paused and swallowed, "And said you thought you were in love with me, you were lying?"
"No." He felt awkward standing while Dan peered up at him from the couch, so he sat down on the coffee table, avoiding looking at Dan while he spoke. "I meant what I said."
"Yeah?" Calm Dan was frightening; it meant he was paying attention to every word you said.
Casey nodded, and swallowed past the sudden roughness in his throat. "Yeah."
He looked up and found that Dan was still watching him intently. "Then what did you lie about?"
"When I said..." Casey paused for a second, and hoped that Dan couldn't see how hard he was blushing. There was no way he was getting out of this with his dignity intact, so he might as well just get it over and done with. "When I said that how you felt didn't matter, that I wasn't expecting a reply." Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to continue, "That I just needed you to know. That was what I lied about." Casey looked down, and realised his hands were clasped so tightly that his knuckles were white. He unclenched them and pressed them flat against his thighs, but he didn't have the courage to look up at Dan. "I meant the other stuff. All of it."
Dan snorted. He didn't sound calm and impersonal anymore. "Aw, Case..." Dan's voice was warm and amused, and Casey thought it couldn't be too bad if Dan could still laugh at him.
Even if he wished that the earth would just open up and swallow him whole, it couldn't be too bad. "Pretty funny, huh?"
"Casey?" Dan's voice was softer now, but right now it was too much for Casey to look up.
His throat felt like sandpaper, but he made the sounds come out. "Yeah?"
Dan's hands slid up over Casey's knees, wrapping around Casey's hands. "I knew that already, Case."
"Oh." Casey almost looked around for the glass of water that sat on his desk, but this was the wrong office. This was a dark office, a quiet office, where they didn't have to pretend to be friends because everyone could see them, where there wasn't any reason for Dan not to just laugh at him, at the pure ridiculousness of this entire situation. Instead, Casey kept his eyes on the floor.
"Case, breathe," Dan said and Casey could hear the laughter in Dan's tone. "I know you. I know you don't like being uncertain, I know you like definite answers. I knew you didn't mean that," Dan said gently, and cupped Casey's cheek with one hand, lifting Casey's jaw until he faced Dan. "I know you."
"Oh." As soon as Casey could say actual words, he'd raise his eyes higher than Dan's shoulder. At the moment, both of those actions seemed beyond him.
"I know you," Dan repeated, but didn't move his hand away.
"How come you came in here to sleep?" It wasn't what Casey really wanted to ask, but Dan's hand was warm against his face, and his fingertips were moving gently against the side of Casey's neck, and this question seemed safer.
Dan spoke softly, and leaned closer to Casey. "I was tired and our office is too bright. this seemed like a good solution."
Dan's fingers were so soft against his neck and Casey had the sudden mental image of just how soft Dan's lips would be. "How come?"
"How come I was tired?" Dan asked distractedly. Casey nodded. Thank god, Dan knew him well. "I didn't get a lot of sleep. Spent most of the night walking around the city and thinking."
Dan's other hand was moving, lightly tracing the outline of Casey's hand on his thigh. That made it kind of hard to think. "Hmmm?"
"I got a visit from an old crush last night, so I had a lot to think about."
"Really?" Dan's hands definitely made it hard to think. "Who?" He just hoped it wasn't Rebecca.
"You," Dan said, his voice low and gravelly, making Casey think of bedrooms and sex. In fact, he was so distracted by the sound of Dan's voice, that it took a few moments for the meaning of the word to sink in.
When it did, he looked up at Danny in total shock. "Me?"
Danny's lips quirked into a smile. "Yeah, you."
"But I'm..." Casey trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm not... I'm..." He couldn't even think of a complete sentence; this was too impossible. "Me?"
"You, Casey." Danny's hand rested on his jawline, and his thumb moved to rub against Casey's lower lip. "You have no idea how much of a crush I had on you when we first met."
Casey's breaths were coming quicker now and Danny seemed even closer to him. Then he realised what Danny said. "Had? As in," he had to swallow just to get the words out, "No longer have?"
Danny grinned and Casey vaguely wondered why there weren't literally lines of people waiting to sleep with Danny. "Had, as in, have had for years."
The noise Casey made was more of a squeak than anything else, but it was meant to be, "Oh." Right at that moment, he couldn't care less about being terminally uncool.
"You know what we're risking, right, Case?" Danny asked, his voice serious.
Casey just beamed, and didn't care that he looked totally goofy. It was the easy way Danny said 'we', as if this was really going to happen.
"I'm serious, Casey. If this doesn't work, this could totally screw up Sports Night." Danny sighed, and pulled his hands back to his lap. "Hell, even if this does work, it could still screw up Sports Night. I know how important your job is to you, Casey. It's a big risk."
Casey suddenly realised that Danny was just as unsure about this as he was. He swallowed drily, and thought for a second. Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Danny's shoulders, resting his forehead against Dan's. "The way I see it, we're risking something that works well, for something that could be incredible. It's worth it, Dan."
Closing his eyes, he lifted his chin that last inch and pressed his lips against Dan's cautious smile. He took a moment to memorise the feel of Dan's lips, the softness, the warmth, the slight taste of mint and coffee, and then he pulled just far enough to be able to speak, still close enough to feel the heat from Dan's skin. "We'll make it work," Casey promised, and smiled.
Dan nodded gently and smiled back. "We always do."
END
If you feel like offering beta services, I will love you forever!
Dan had come to the conclusion that napping was vastly underrated. Yawning, and stretching out a little on the couch, he decided that it had to be one of the top five Most Enjoyable Activities in life. Well, definitely the top ten.
Blinking at his watch until the glowing numbers came into focus, he realised it was only 4.30pm. He could easily get away with another hour down here. Tonight's script was already written, so he probably wouldn't be missed. It wasn't a great script, but it would do.
He leaned over to the coffee table and fished for the remote, turning CNN up just a little. Then he rolled over, closed his eyes, and pretended to listen to the monotonous voices. That was the great thing about napping. It didn't matter if you woke up, you could just relax and doze off again. So he did.
* * *
Casey had decided that searching for Danny was one of the irritating and frustrating passtimes known to mankind. Casey had been looking since Dana burst in with a last minute update on the football ruling from today's game. It only required a tiny alteration of their script; an extra thirty seconds on one story, and thirty seconds less on the hockey match, but then he'd realised there was no point making hockey jokes. There was no Dan to share them.
Last time he'd seen Dan had been half an hour since Dana came in. Dan had said he was going to wander around the office and probably bother Jeremy. Casey hadn't asked for any further details, and had just gone back to what he was doing, pretending to work on his computer (while he actually played Minesweeper. And lost. Badly.).
Since then, Casey had spent the last twenty minutes trying to work out where Danny was. He wasn't hanging around with Elliot or Kim, he wasn't in editing with Jeremy (and considering Jeremy was making out with Natalie in there, that was almost reassuring), and he wasn't with Dana and Isaac in Isaac's office. In fact, he didn't seem to be anywhere on their floor. Casey knew; he'd personally walked around and checked each room.
That inferred that Dan had left. But as far as Casey knew, Danny didn't have any plans for today. No special afternoon dates, no required shopping visits, and no medical appointments. It was unlike Dan to leave without telling someone where he was, and no-one seemed to know. As a last resort, Casey had checked with the security guys in the foyer, feeling like an idiot who didn't even know where his partner was.
According to them, Dan hadn't left the building.
That was even more frustrating. It meant that Danny was somewhere in the building, hiding from him. Casey decided it would be more productive to find Danny first, and then worry about the reason for his behaviour. Plus, if Danny was hiding from him, he had a fairly good idea why.
So, he checked the staff cafeteria on the tenth floor, even though Danny never ate there, and that was where he found his first clue. He ran into Monica from wardrobe, who smiled at him and asked why Danny had been wandering around the fourteenth floor.
"He was on the fourteenth floor?" Casey didn't even bother trying to hide his confusion. Generally, he found people were more helpful when you looked as if you'd have trouble working out how to turn a door handle.
She smiled at him, and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, he was looking around there about an hour ago. Mentioned that he was looking for your office. I thought you shared an office with him?"
"Um... yeah, we do. It's... it's a long story," he replied, smiling. At least now he knew where he should be searching. "Thanks, Monica."
She bobbed her head to the side, and then shrugged. "Not a problem."
Casey walked back over to the lifts. Now he had a plan. Firstly, go back down to reception and see if they knew where his office was. Secondly, find his office, and thirdly, hopefully find Danny in it.
* * *
Danny woke up, blinking in the dark room. Lifting his hand up from under his head, he flexed his fingers until the numbness, and the pins and needles, went away. For such a strange sensation, it could be ridiculously painful.
Make-up would appreciate if it didn't look like he'd only got a few hours sleep last night. And yawning on air wouldn't be a good idea. Looking over at his watch, he figured he could get away with another ten minutes rest.
Dan rolled over to his side and pulled his legs up on the couch. Snuggling into the cushions, he let his eyes fall shut again and relaxed.
* * *
Apparently, Casey had made the right choice by claiming Danny's office as his own (well, their own). His actual office was on the fourteenth floor, several floors away from the studio, and according to the plans, had no natural light whatsoever. There seemed to be no windows at all.
Walking down the corridor, following the sketched plans in his hand, Casey knew he would have really missed the window in their office. There was something wonderful about seeing New York at night, seeing the city lit up by hundreds of tiny lights. That view was one of the best things about his job.
Turning yet another corner, Casey couldn't help thinking that this floor was designed to be a labyrinth. The corridors were defined by solid walls, filled with harsh, artificial lighting and stretched around corner after corner. It felt as if it was a seperate building, not a seperate floor.
Distracted by the difference in decor and atmosphere, he almost walked straight past the wooden door with "Casey MacCall" written on it. Even though he'd never used the office, Casey was still a little offended that they couldn't spell his name right. Casey opened the door, walked inside and closed it behind him.
Then he stood there and blinked in the sudden darkness. The only light in the room was a small TV tuned to CNN. After a minute of watching the latest report on some plane crash, and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, Casey looked around the room. The plans had been right, at least as far as the no windows thing went. It was a bit bigger than their current office, with a larger desk and similar couch. There was a table on one side, a little bigger than theirs, with four chairs around it, and a high shelving unit on one wall. From what Casey could see, there was a TV, a small stereo, a VCR, and... a DVD player? He and Dan needed to remember to take that up to their office. No use letting it go to waste down here.
However, the biggest difference between this office and their current one, was that this one had Danny in it. To be precise, it had a sleeping Danny, curled up like an overgrown five year old, on the couch. Dan had one arm tucked under his head, and the other twisted in his shirt, resting near his chin. Casey noted Dan's socked feet, but in the semi-darkness, he couldn't see where Dan's shoes were.
This was where Casey's plan ran out. He'd found his office, he'd found Danny, and now he wasn't sure what to do. If Danny had been hiding from him, he probably hadn't intended to fall asleep. It wasn't quite as easy as just asking Danny straight out. He didn't want to sound like an idiot if he hadn't been hiding.
He watched Danny sleeping peacefully, and decidedit would be easier to just leave and let Danny sleep. If Danny didn't show up within an hour of going on air, he could always come down then and wake him. He was just about to leave, when he heard Danny's sleep-muffled voice.
"Case?" Danny was scrubbing at his eyes, and Casey was reminded yet again of an overgrown kid. Danny ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more, and yawned. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you hiding from me?" Maybe it was as easy as just asking.
Danny glared up at him, blinking groggily. "What?"
Casey cringed. "I just... I came to find out if you were avoiding me."
Dan's brows furrowed. "Why would I be avoiding you?"
"Well, I just thought... " Casey shifted his weight on his feet, looking off to the side. "that after last night..." This was the reason no-one thought he was cool.
Dan shook his head. "No, I get that. Why would you think I was avoiding you?"
"I just..." Casey took a deep breath, and resolved to stop starting sentences that way. "You weren't there. And no-one knew where to find you."
"Oh," Dan said, and stretched an arm over his head, making his shirt ride up over his stomach. "I needed a nap."
"You disappeared to sleep?" Casey asked incredulously, watching as Dan stretched his other arm, revealing a few more inches of bare skin.
"Not to sleep, Casey. To have a nap. There's an important difference," Dan added, as if everyone knew the difference between napping and sleeping. It was the same tone of voice Dan used when Casey had asked if there really was any difference between a strappy sandal and a normal sandal. As if it was a wonder that Casey had made it through thrity-something years of life without knowing this fact. Dan must have seen the lack of understanding on Casey's face. "Sleeping implies hours, Casey. It implies comfort, and a bed, and probably waking up to an alarm. Napping is short-term, on any comfortable surface, and is generally done best with constant background noise," Danny finished, pointing at the television.
"Okay." He had the feeling there were a few flaws in Dan's argument, but it wasn't worth arguing it. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that we were okay."
"We're fine. Why wouldn't we be?" Dan asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Because I lied." And this was the reason they had scripts when they were on air, so Casey didn't just say the first thing that popped into his head. Well, generally the first thing was fine; it was something random, some useless but intriguing fact that could fill up an empty twenty seconds. It was just speaking to Dan that he needed a script. He tended to say honest things that he really shouldn't say.
"You lied?" Danny's voice was soft and casual, but in the uncertain light from the television, his gaze was intense.
Casey opened his mouth, then closed it before the words 'I just' had a chance to escape. After a pause, he settled on sticking to the truth. "Yeah."
"So, last night," Dan started, as he moved to sit up straight on the couch. Dan was utterly calm; his face was closed and composed; his voice was just that right mix of friendly and professional that worked so well on air. "When you kissed me," Dan paused and swallowed, "And said you thought you were in love with me, you were lying?"
"No." He felt awkward standing while Dan peered up at him from the couch, so he sat down on the coffee table, avoiding looking at Dan while he spoke. "I meant what I said."
"Yeah?" Calm Dan was frightening; it meant he was paying attention to every word you said.
Casey nodded, and swallowed past the sudden roughness in his throat. "Yeah."
He looked up and found that Dan was still watching him intently. "Then what did you lie about?"
"When I said..." Casey paused for a second, and hoped that Dan couldn't see how hard he was blushing. There was no way he was getting out of this with his dignity intact, so he might as well just get it over and done with. "When I said that how you felt didn't matter, that I wasn't expecting a reply." Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to continue, "That I just needed you to know. That was what I lied about." Casey looked down, and realised his hands were clasped so tightly that his knuckles were white. He unclenched them and pressed them flat against his thighs, but he didn't have the courage to look up at Dan. "I meant the other stuff. All of it."
Dan snorted. He didn't sound calm and impersonal anymore. "Aw, Case..." Dan's voice was warm and amused, and Casey thought it couldn't be too bad if Dan could still laugh at him.
Even if he wished that the earth would just open up and swallow him whole, it couldn't be too bad. "Pretty funny, huh?"
"Casey?" Dan's voice was softer now, but right now it was too much for Casey to look up.
His throat felt like sandpaper, but he made the sounds come out. "Yeah?"
Dan's hands slid up over Casey's knees, wrapping around Casey's hands. "I knew that already, Case."
"Oh." Casey almost looked around for the glass of water that sat on his desk, but this was the wrong office. This was a dark office, a quiet office, where they didn't have to pretend to be friends because everyone could see them, where there wasn't any reason for Dan not to just laugh at him, at the pure ridiculousness of this entire situation. Instead, Casey kept his eyes on the floor.
"Case, breathe," Dan said and Casey could hear the laughter in Dan's tone. "I know you. I know you don't like being uncertain, I know you like definite answers. I knew you didn't mean that," Dan said gently, and cupped Casey's cheek with one hand, lifting Casey's jaw until he faced Dan. "I know you."
"Oh." As soon as Casey could say actual words, he'd raise his eyes higher than Dan's shoulder. At the moment, both of those actions seemed beyond him.
"I know you," Dan repeated, but didn't move his hand away.
"How come you came in here to sleep?" It wasn't what Casey really wanted to ask, but Dan's hand was warm against his face, and his fingertips were moving gently against the side of Casey's neck, and this question seemed safer.
Dan spoke softly, and leaned closer to Casey. "I was tired and our office is too bright. this seemed like a good solution."
Dan's fingers were so soft against his neck and Casey had the sudden mental image of just how soft Dan's lips would be. "How come?"
"How come I was tired?" Dan asked distractedly. Casey nodded. Thank god, Dan knew him well. "I didn't get a lot of sleep. Spent most of the night walking around the city and thinking."
Dan's other hand was moving, lightly tracing the outline of Casey's hand on his thigh. That made it kind of hard to think. "Hmmm?"
"I got a visit from an old crush last night, so I had a lot to think about."
"Really?" Dan's hands definitely made it hard to think. "Who?" He just hoped it wasn't Rebecca.
"You," Dan said, his voice low and gravelly, making Casey think of bedrooms and sex. In fact, he was so distracted by the sound of Dan's voice, that it took a few moments for the meaning of the word to sink in.
When it did, he looked up at Danny in total shock. "Me?"
Danny's lips quirked into a smile. "Yeah, you."
"But I'm..." Casey trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm not... I'm..." He couldn't even think of a complete sentence; this was too impossible. "Me?"
"You, Casey." Danny's hand rested on his jawline, and his thumb moved to rub against Casey's lower lip. "You have no idea how much of a crush I had on you when we first met."
Casey's breaths were coming quicker now and Danny seemed even closer to him. Then he realised what Danny said. "Had? As in," he had to swallow just to get the words out, "No longer have?"
Danny grinned and Casey vaguely wondered why there weren't literally lines of people waiting to sleep with Danny. "Had, as in, have had for years."
The noise Casey made was more of a squeak than anything else, but it was meant to be, "Oh." Right at that moment, he couldn't care less about being terminally uncool.
"You know what we're risking, right, Case?" Danny asked, his voice serious.
Casey just beamed, and didn't care that he looked totally goofy. It was the easy way Danny said 'we', as if this was really going to happen.
"I'm serious, Casey. If this doesn't work, this could totally screw up Sports Night." Danny sighed, and pulled his hands back to his lap. "Hell, even if this does work, it could still screw up Sports Night. I know how important your job is to you, Casey. It's a big risk."
Casey suddenly realised that Danny was just as unsure about this as he was. He swallowed drily, and thought for a second. Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Danny's shoulders, resting his forehead against Dan's. "The way I see it, we're risking something that works well, for something that could be incredible. It's worth it, Dan."
Closing his eyes, he lifted his chin that last inch and pressed his lips against Dan's cautious smile. He took a moment to memorise the feel of Dan's lips, the softness, the warmth, the slight taste of mint and coffee, and then he pulled just far enough to be able to speak, still close enough to feel the heat from Dan's skin. "We'll make it work," Casey promised, and smiled.
Dan nodded gently and smiled back. "We always do."
END
