out_there | For Celli: accounting study SN thingy

Dan was wearing his Concentrating Scowl. In Casey's mind, it deserved capitals. It came complete with drawn eyebrows, pursed lips and hunched shoulders, and was occasionally accompanied by annoyed sighs. It was a sure sign that Danny was Concentrating.

"Whatcha doing?"

Dan didn't look up. "Studying."

Casey snorted. "Why? Are mid-terms coming up?"

"Something like that," Dan replied and turned the page.

After a moment, Casey's curiousity got the better of him. He wandered over to the table, and stood behind Danny. Trying to read Dan's chicken-trail scrawl was hard at the best of times. Reading over Dan's shoulder made it a real challenge. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Studying."

"Why?"

Dan sighed deeply, and then tilted his head back to stare up at Casey. "I've got an exam coming up."

"Danny?" Casey asked solicitiously, placing a hand on Dan's shoulder. "You do know you're not in college anymore, right?"

Dan grinned. "I graduated with a 3.7 GPA."

"3.8," Casey siad, unable to resist a little bragging to Dan.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Your parents must be proud."

"They are indeed," Casey said, sitting down at the table beside Dan. "But that doesn't explain why you are, apparently, studying."

"I am actually studying, Casey."

"Why?"

Dan tilted his head, obviously debating what to tell him. Finally, Dan sighed and confessed, "I failed accounting in college."

Casey was shocked. "You did accounting?"

"I was a well rounded student. I sampled a lot of majors before I settled on journalism."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I did visual arts, photography, economics, bio-chemistry, anthopology, creative writing and journalism."

"Uh-huh?"

"And I failed accounting."

"You failed?" Casey blinked, thinking about it. "What did you get?"

Dan grimaced. "I got a fail."

"What mark?"

"Casey," Dan said in annoyance.

Casey snickered. "That embarrassing?"

"I got 34. Out of 100."

"Wow," Casey said in surprise.

"Wow?"

"That really is embarrassing."

Dan glared at him. "Go away. Go far away from me," he said and turned back to his notes.

"Still..."

"What?" Dan asked curtly.

"That doesn't explain why you're studying now."

Dan sighed. "I took a correspondence course. It was the one subject I failed, and I want to prove to myself I can pass it. So, correspondence."

"And you have an exam?"

"Online exam." Dan closed his eyes for a slong second. "In a week's time."

"You know what's more frightening than a thrity year old man trying to recapture his youth by perfecting his college records?" Casey asked slowly.

"What?"

"An exam being *online*."

Dan snickered. "I think it's cool. Apart from the fact that I'm going to fail again."

"You are?"

"This subject makes no sense!" Dan exclaimed, slamming his notebook shut. "It has numbers and theories, but it makes no sense."

"You're not seeing the logic?"

"There is no logic. There's debits and credits and T-ledgers that mean nothing. It's insane logic."

Casey smirked. "Insane troll logic?"

Dan snorted. "You have watched my Buffy DVDs one too many times, Mister."

"You were the one who said I needed to understand the mainstream culture."

"Culture, shmulture," Dan said dismissively, waving his hand. "Although, thinking of Buffy..."

"We were thinking of Buffy?"

"Do you know why my season 3 DVDs automatically play in French?"

"Possibly?" Casey smiled uncomfortably.

"Possibly?"

"I know that I did it, but I don't how to undo it."

Dan blinked at him. "Figures."

"I just wanted to watch it in French."

"Why?"

"Refreshes my language skills," Casey replied smugly.

"You just wanted to hear Cordelia with a French accent," Dan accused with a grin.

"That was a secondary reason."

"And how does she sound?"

"Hot."

Dan nodded in agreement. "Let's hear it for the Laker Girls."

"Huh?"

"The actress used to be a Laker girl," Dan explained with a sigh. "And why am I discussing Buffy cast members when I have an exam next week?"

Casey shrugged. "I have no idea. But you might want to put that study on hold for a while."

Casey wasn't sure if Dan looked resigned or hopeful. It looked like Dan couldn't decide either. "How come?"

"We were supposed to be in the conference room five minutes ago," Casey said as he stood up.

Dan pulled a face and got up quickly. "Oops."

"Blame it on the Lakers Girls."

"I think there's a limit to how much Dana will let me blame on cheerleaders, Casey."

***