SN Ficlet: Oscar Wilde

[out_there]

speshope requested Sports Night, any pairing really, but she used her Sorkin Slash icon, so of course it had to be Casey/Dan.

The phrase was: "A wise, gay man once said, 'A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.'" (the wise gay man being Oscar Wilde)

***


Oscar Wilde

Casey was sitting on the couch, one foot tucked under him, with an old scrap book open on his lap. Someone who didn't know him very well would think he was trying to avoid work. Someone who knew Casey well would know he was avoiding work. And that there was something behind the trip down Memory Lane. There was always a reason.

"You know, when Dana said, 'Get into that office and don't come out until you've finished tonight's script,' I actually thought you'd be working."

Casey shrugged. "Shows what you know."

Dan perched on the arm of the couch. Leaning over Casey's shoulder, he saw that the book contained newspaper cuttings, blurbs about Lone Star and its new hosts. "I didn't know you still kept that stuff."

"I promised my mom."

"Really?" Dan snickered, just imagining Mrs McCall giving Casey instructions on keeping a scrap book. Knowing Casey's mom, they were probably numbered, with the occasional bullet point.

Casey rolled his eyes. "Your mom still sends you cookies."

"Have you ever had a better peanut butter cookie? Ever?"

"Not to mention her chocolate chip cookies," Casey replied with a slightly hungry grin. "I wonder if there's any at the craft services table."

"You know their cookies." Dan grimaced. "You don't want to try them. No scrap book can be that depressing."

"Who says I'm depressed?"

Dan stood up, wincing at the pins and needles in his ankle. The other side of the couch was a far more comfortable seat. "You're not exactly jumping for joy over here."

"I was just... thinking," Casey replied in a very unconvincing tone.

"About?"

"About Texas. About Lone Star." Casey sighed and shut the scrap book. "...About Lisa."

Dan hmmm'd, and wondered how he should handle this. If left alone, Casey could mope for hours, and Moping Casey wasn't good for the show. "A wise, gay man once said, 'A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.'"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you could have been happy with Lisa," Dan said carefully, "if you didn't love her. If you really didn't care, you probably could have faked it enough to keep her happy."

Casey frowned and ducked his head, looking like a hurt five year old. "I really loved her, you know. And before Dallas, we were pretty happy."

Dan took a deep breath and reminded himself that if you were sleeping with anyone over eighteen, dealing with ex's came with the territory. It almost made eighteen years olds look appealing, until you factored in that they were, you know, eighteen. "And?"

"And then there was Dallas, and I screwed it up."

"Casey, there is no way in hell that the divorce was all your fault," Dan started vehemently, but stopped when Casey shook his head.

"That's not what I meant..." Casey trailed off. Dan waited, because Casey didn't talk about this sort of stuff often. There was no telling when Casey would have the sudden urge to share again. "We were really in love, and then it got screwed up. Five years of dating, five years of happy marriage, and then within six months it was effectively dead. We spent the next five years going through the motions, politely avoiding each other as much as possible, but I don't think either of us were happy."

Dan reached over, and rested a hand on Casey's thigh. "I wouldn't say so, no."

"I was thinking ten years of happiness, and then I screwed it up." Casey blinked down at his hands. "We've been friends for ten years, Danny."

"You think it's the hot monkey sex that's going to screw us up?" Casey's jaw dropped and he stared at Dan. Dan grinned. Shocked Casey was far more fun than Self Doubting Casey. "Because, really. Making me scream? Not a bad thing."

Casey blinked. "I didn't mean that."

"There's a couple things you've got to understand about your divorce," Dan said and squeezed Casey's thigh quickly. "Firstly, I'm not Lisa. I don't want the same things from you that she wanted. Secondly, the divorce was not all your fault, regardless of how much of a jerk you can be. She showed no interest in your career. No support. She was cold, man."

Casey nodded slightly and Dan grinned. He kept talking. "Thirdly, I'm not Lisa. I know I said that before, but it's an important point, Casey. The key word in the phrase 'wise, gay man' is gay. Regardless of what kind of woman Lisa was, there's still the underlying fact that she was, in fact, a woman."

Casey flushed a little, typical McCall reaction to any serious discussion of sex. "Danny--"

"Tell me, stand up and tell me, that you ever felt for her the way you feel for me." Dan smirked; because, damnit, he could make smug look sexy. Plus, as much as Casey might fumble around the words, Dan already knew it was true. "Tell me that you were happier with her, and then I'll take this worry seriously."

Looking him in the eye, Casey said quietly, "You know I wasn't."

Dan had to fight the victory smile that threatened to break across his face. "You need to a face some things, Casey. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to let you screw this up. And you are gay. Gay as a really, really gay man."

"Nice metaphor," Casey replied with the hint of a grin.

"Gay as a pink tutu?" Danny tried hopefully, and Casey started to snigger. "Gay as a rainbow-colored flag? Or… Oh, I've got it."

Casey tried to keep a straight face. "Really?"

"Gay as Oscar Wilde."

"Yeah?" Casey asked, laughing.

"The similarities are there. Witty, eloquent, charming," Dan listed easily. "And really, really gay."

"Thank you. I think."

"But as Oscar Wilde-like as you are, Dana is still going to kick your butt if you don't get tonight's script done. You know she'll ask for it soon."

Casey grinned and tucked the scrap book under the couch. "Then I'll just have to tell her that I have nothing to declare but my brilliance."

"Or maybe you should sit down, type it up, and then tell her it's done?" Dan pulled his hand away from Casey's leg, with just a slight tinge of regret. "That way, you'll be alive to do tonight's show."

"Yeah, that could be the better option."

The End