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[out_there]

A sure way to depress yourself on a monday morning is to spend the morning train ride thinking that Casey and Lisa's marriage was probably like your parents (pre-divorce). They stuck it out so long because they barely saw each - I'm resisting the urge to write Lisa/Casey divorce fic. I think I'd just depress myself into a big, black blob.

A sure way to cheer me up? Casey/Danny banter. Like this. *smooches Signe*

(And, if anyone else needs another booster, you should check out her cupcake ficlet - part one and two - as well.)

Comments

[celli]

Not the cheeriest topic on a Monday morning, no. *hugs*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Oh, not like, I'm about to burst into tears, just... kinda morose.

Mind you, not that I'm suggesting that Casey's a polite drinker/theif/gambler/liar, or that Lisa's the type of woman to work her fingers to the bone for him.

But, I can just imagine them staying together out of convenience, out of habit, and getting through it by avoiding the other person. I was imagining that since Casey works until midnight, and probably didn't get home until 1 or 2am, it would be practical for him to sleep in the spare room.

So, Casey would sleep until 10am or so, and Lisa would make sure that she was involved in Charlie's school or seeing her family (back in Dallas) or maybe fundraising/charity activities (in New York), so she had a good logical reason for being out of the house by the time Casey was awake.

Casey would wake up to an empty house, get himself ready, and then go to work. If they needed to work anything out, they'd do it by phone, but the face-to-face contact would be minimised.

On Casey's days off, I could imagine him organising to pick Charlie up after school, and spend the rest of the afternoon/evening with him, and of course, he'd see Charlie on weekends before he left for work.

Basically, he and Lisa wouldn't actually have to spend more than a few hours together a week, and it would be around Charlie, so it would be easier to concentrate on Charlie and just be civil to the other person.

Yeah. It's not an uplifting thought, but it's how I see it. I mean, I've read fics where they stayed together mainly because of a great sex life, but I could imagine it being that sort of cold and distant, but oddly practical, type of marriage much easier.

[celli]

Makes a lot of sense to me. My folks did something similar--Dad was always at the bar with his friends, drove my mom nuts, but I think they would have divorced five years earlier if he hadn't done that.

(Their 30th anniversary would have been last week. It amazes me. They've now been divorced almost exactly as long as they were married.)

[out-there.livejournal.com]

My folks did something similar--Dad was always at the bar with his friends, drove my mom nuts, but I think they would have divorced five years earlier if he hadn't done that.

Yeah, my Dad too. Well, that was the certainly the reason for the first divorce - he spent all his time and his money in the pub, and yet didn't want Mum to work after she had me. Mum ended up leaving him just because of the fact that he wouldn't bring food money home.

Then, due to combined circumstances (like her dating a guy that hit her, him promising that he'd given up drinking, thinking that I'd grow up missing my father), she got back together with him and got remarried (and had my brother). Then, she found out he didn't just have a drinking problem, it was gambling as well.

She spent about the next eight years working like a dog to pay off his never-ending debts, the constant personal loans that he'd take out behind her back. When my brother was a toddler, she was working 6-7 nights a week, and looking after him in the daytime. Then, she switched to weekend work, while Dad worked weekdays. It was only her getting too sick to work (RSI, back complaints from an accident when she was younger, 8 ulcers) that stopped it.

Man, when you say this stuff to an objective stranger (well, outsider - you know what I mean), it's feels impossible that Dad still makes noises like they'll end up together when they're old.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

My parents stayed married for over 60 years without, as far as I could ever make out, having a single thing in common or liking one another very much. The whole thing's a mystery to me.

Which is just my way of saying no, I think divorce fic would just depress us all. Stick to the porn, that's my (not wholly unselfish) advice. Unless it absolutely insists on being written, in which case there's no help for it.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Heh. My parents are divorced, and both of their parents are divorced. By this stage, I think it's genetic. *g*

Which is just my way of saying no, I think divorce fic would just depress us all. Stick to the porn, that's my (not wholly unselfish) advice.

*snerk* I will pay attention to that advice.

Unless it absolutely insists on being written, in which case there's no help for it.

Well, yes, I've just got Danny in my head, playing loud Country music (music of pain), drinking Jack Daniels and mourning the loss of Rebecca. He's bugging Casey to tell him about the divorce, to share a tale of misery and woe.

My internal Casey is just rolling his eyes and thinking that Danny needs to stop drinking so much, or stop playing country music, or ideally, stop doing both.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

Maybe instead of telling Danny about the divorce, Casey could just seduce him.

(Why yes, I do have a one-track mind, rather.)

And then while Danny's throwing up the next morning (from the JD, not the sex), Casey can systematically search the apartment and root out and destroy all evidence of country music.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

*giggles* That's a much better option.

[celli]

This takes place after the "Thank you for saving my friend" scene in the hospital and leads right into the "You don't look like I thought you would" scene in the jail.

***

Casey, much to his own surprise, wrote like a maniac the following day, in between calls to the ICU nurse's station (and a few other places). He wrote in the conference room, on the set, and at Kim's desk while she was at lunch. She didn't kill him for moving her stuff, which said volumes about the mood of the staff.

He walked into his office once, stopped short about a foot from the couch, and about-faced. Natalie fetched his Buccaneers notes for him without complaining, although her face was paler than usual when she came out.

"Casey?" Dana leaned into the editing room, and Casey paused a highlight reel in process to look up at her. "Isaac's back from the hospital. He needs to see you when you have time."

"Sure, I can do this later." He made a note to himself and stood. "Is--Bobbi here yet?"

"Yeah."

"Does she know about what's going on? I don't want any snide comments from the other end of the anchor desk tonight."

"Casey, she wouldn't do something like that."

"I'm just saying--"

"I'll talk to her," Dana said, and she somehow sounded cranky and pleading at once.

"Thanks." He hesitated at the door, then put his arms around her. She hugged him back so hard he could feel her clipboard digging into his sternum.

"Go talk to Isaac," she said, muffled, into his shirt.

***

"How are you?" Isaac asked as Casey closed the door behind him.

Casey took a seat and swallowed both a sarcastic reply and a bland one, knowing Isaac wouldn't accept either. "I just want it to be midnight so I can go back to the hospital."

"Visiting hours end at eight."

"I don't much care," Casey snapped. Then he sighed. "Sorry. Did they let you see him?"

"No. They don't expect him to be really aware of his surroundings until tomorrow or the next day."

"That's good, right? It means he's not hurting?"

"Not as much," Isaac said.

Casey closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay."

"His parents came in this morning."

"Have they been at the hospital all day?"

"They have."

*It's really good Dan's unconscious, then,* Casey thought uncharitably. "Thanks for letting me know." He started to stand.

"I spoke to the police," Isaac said casually, and Casey froze.

"You did?"

"Leave it alone."

"Isaac--"

"Stop calling down there, Casey."

"No. Not until I get some reasonable answers about what they're going to do to him."

"It's not your job to--"

"Damn straight, it's *their* job, and I plan to keep on top of them until they do what my taxes are paying them to do."

"Casey!"

"What?" Casey slammed his fist into Isaac's desk, and only then did he realize that both of them were out of their seats and shouting at each other.

"Leave this to the police." Isaac's eyes were bright. "Don't take this on too."

"Don't tell me not to."

"I'm asking you not to.

"Don't. I can't--just don't." Casey stumbled backwards and groped for the door handle.

He heard Isaac calling his name as he left.

***

Casey walked into his--their--office and shut the door. He sat down on the couch next to the dried blood and braced his elbows on his knees. He could practically feel the curious stares coming through the glass, but he kept his gaze firmly directed toward his toes. When his hands began to tremble, he clasped them together.

Twenty minutes later, he walked back out of the office. "I'll be back by rundown," he told Kim.

***

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh! How is it possible that Casey can be a total pain in the ass and yet make me love him so? Because, really, he's just being painful to deal with, and I'm torn between feeling sorry for everyone who has to deal with him and just wanting to give him a big hug and tell him Danny will be okay. (Because he will, right? He has to be. *looks worried* *remembers* I've read the later banter.)

I love him avoiding their office, I love Dana's cranky concern and Isaac's combination of smack-down and support. I love the way that when he's stressed and hurting, Casey is downright *bitchy*.

But most of all, I love the way that a tiny little snippet of a few scenes made me totally forget about the fact that it's Monday and my to-do list, and everything not SN related.

*hugs you*

It's painful and it's sweet and it's really damn *good*.

[celli]

You know what's funny? I was so into Casey's head writing this that it wasn't until I read it *again* a second ago that I recognized his pain-in-the-ass-ness. Which is kinda scary, really.

But yay! I'm glad it made you forget your Monday. That's fantastic. *hugs*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

I was so into Casey's head writing this that it wasn't until I read it *again* a second ago that I recognized his pain-in-the-ass-ness. Which is kinda scary, really.

Scary, but damn amusing. *g* That's the thing about Casey. Even when he's being a pain, he generally doesn't *mean* to be a pain. It's the one mitigated factor that makes it easier to forgive him.

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

You've really caught Casey to a tee here. And the way the other staff understand why he's being so unbearable, and allow it, because it's Dan after all, so it's understandable.

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

Would writing Lisa/Casey divorce fic get it out of your system? Or would it make you feel worse, d'you think? You should go with how it feels.

Anyway, glad my timing was good! I've even tidied up the banter snippet to try and get the voices nearer to Dan and Casey and posted it. See how influential you are!

[out-there.livejournal.com]

I think the dismal angsty thoughts are caused by me being sick, actually. So, I'm not writing it because it will just be angst for the sake of 'I don't feel good so neither should anyone else.'

Anyway, glad my timing was good! I've even tidied up the banter snippet to try and get the voices nearer to Dan and Casey and posted it. See how influential you are!

*does a little dance* Yay!