out_there | SN WIP: Homophobic

Previous parts here.

***

As Casey read over the finished script, Dan sauntered back into their office. He really did saunter, it was a smug walk of achievement. "Your special bond is still intact?"

"My special bond with Isaac is stronger than ever," Dan responded with a big grin, stopping a foot in front of Casey.

Casey looked back down at his notes. "You got the time off?"

"Despite new company guidelines that it should only be three days, I got the entire week off." Dan rocked back on his feet. "You want to know why?"

"Because you and Isaac share a special bond?"

"Because we share a special bond."

Casey turned to the next page and read over the printed words. "I'm happy for you."

"I've got a week off, and it only came with one tiny little condition."

Casey glanced up, wondering what Isaac had made Dan promise to do or not do. "Yeah?"

"You have to be willing to take your leave after I get back." Dan smiled winsomely at him and Casey smirked.

"I wouldn't call that a tiny little condition." Grinning wider, Casey enjoyed the slightly panicked expression in Dan's eyes. "I mean, it's been a long two weeks. I'm looking forward to those three days of relaxation."

"Casey!" Dan exclaimed in a somewhat strangled tone. "You can't be serious. Come on, I need those extra days of sleep."

"As do I."

Dan's frown slipped into a pout. "But I need it more. You're used to working on no sleep. I can't do that. I just can't."

"Well, then it sucks to be you," Casey said, turning back to the notes in his hand. The papers were pulled out of his hands by a very unimpressed Dan.

"What'll it take to make you switch days with me?" Dan demanded. "I will make Natalie go shopping with you if I have to drag her to the store at gunpoint."

"You don't own a gun."

"I'll buy one!"

Casey grinned. "I don't need new clothes."

"Casey, I've seen your wardrobe. You always need new clothes."

Casey rolled his eyes and headed off to Dana's office. "Enjoy that three day vacation of yours."

Trotting along beside him, Dan's tone was demanding. "Caseeeey! I need that vacation time."

"Not enough to be polite about my wardrobe," Casey pointed out.

"I'm your best friend and I was just stating an objective fact. Now gimme the time off."

"No," Casey replied and ducked into Dana's office, closing the door behind him before Dan had a chance to follow. Casey leaned back again the door, ignoring the jerks as Dan tried to force it open. "Hey, Dana."

"I've accepted the fact that you two act like eight year olds," she said, looking up from the piles of tapes around her desk, "but do you have to do it in my office?"

"Have to? No." Casey grinned. "We just choose to."

Dana huffed. "What do you want?"

"Script's finished." Casey waved the printed pages in his hand, but didn't move away from the door. "Brought it in for you to check before the rundown."

"You want to bring it over here for me to read?"

"If I do that, Danny will come in."

"And that's a bad idea because...?"

Casey shrugged. "I'm just messing with his mind."

Dana shook her head, causing the shorter strands at the front of her hair to fall over her eyes. She pushed it back with a sigh. "Give me the script and then get out."

"Fine." Casey took a few quick steps away from the door and turned around just to see Dan come tumbling through the doorway. He wasn't the only one who laughed.

"Hey, Dana," Dan ground out as he drew himself up on his knees. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, fancy that," Dana replied sarcastically.

"Casey, you have to give me the time off." Dan turned pleading eyes on Casey. Then he started shuffling forward on his knees, holding his laced fingers in front of him. "Please, please, please, please. You have to give me the time off."

Casey swallowed, and tried not to think Dan-on-his-knees thoughts. "Get up, Danny."

"Time off?" Dana asked, only sounding vaguely interested.

"Isaac said I could take a week off *only* if Casey agreed to take his days off after I got back."

"Ah." Dana went back to sorting through the papers on her desk.

"Casey," Dan whined, shuffling closer. "I need that time off."

"Danny, could you just get up?" Casey asked uncomfortably. "It's an extra four days off, not a reason to humiliate yourself in public."

Dan shrugged. "What's a bit of humiliation between friends? Besides, a tired man has no use for pride."

Behind Casey, Dana snorted. "Casey, please," Dan pleaded as he shuffled closer, dropping his head and grabbing hold of Casey legs. That was bad. Having Dan's hands on his thighs was bad; having Dan's hands on his thighs, while Dan begged so desperately, was really bad.

"You can have the time off, Danny, just get up." Casey stepped back quickly before the thought of Dan's fingers could overcome his basic sense of public decency. Or embarrassment.

"Never underestimate the power of shameless begging," Dan said brightly as he stood up. He brushed down his knees. "Thank you, Casey."

"Just remember that you owe me for this."

"I do indeed." Dan grinned, perfectly happy now he had what he wanted. "Name it, and it shall be yours."

"I'll let you know when I figure out what I want," Casey said and then noticed that Dana was glaring at them.

"Could you two get out of here?"

"Yes, ma'am," Dan responded cheekily and Casey just rolled his eyes.

***

As the days dragged on, the station just seemed to get crazier. Or the people who worked there did. One of the two. Dana started wearing a particular pair of black shoes, calling them her 'lucky pumps'. Chris and Will started reciting the lyrics to 80s pop music when they were bored. Everyone started going a little unwired.

Casey's insanity stayed out of the office, apart from the occasional jolt of lust that hit when he didn't expect it. Sometimes, it was just glancing over as Dan flirted with some girl in the elevator, or reaching for his pants in wardrobe and getting a glimpse of Dan's strong back. Other times, it was more obvious, like Danny on his knees, begging so desperately, working his hands up Casey's thighs. That had inspired Casey's fantasies for days. But he figured that as long as he was keeping the insanity out of the workplace, there was no harm in indulging this ridiculous lust.

No harm in lying in his bed at night, and imagining Dan's hands on his skin, Dan's body against his. Dan's shapely lips stretched around his cock. There was no real harm in whimpering Dan's name as he came.

After all, it was just another form of stress-induced insanity. Everyone was starting to suffer from it, Casey's was just a little more focused than most.

***

Even Kim started to show signs of the pressure. She suddenly insisted that women's sports were overlooked and tried to force them to cover it in more detail by leaving tapes of women's sports all over their desk, and somehow hiding the other, more relevant, tapes. Casey suspected that Eliot had helped her.

While Casey spent an hour trying to find the rest of the tapes they actually needed to see, Dan just started watching them. After a wasted hour, Casey admitted defeat and dropped onto the couch beside Dan. "What are you watching?"

"Sailing."

Casey blinked at the screen, taking in the boats and very blue water. "Gee, I never would have realized that."

Dan rolled his eyes. "You know there's no point looking for the tapes, right?"

"Why not?"

"Kim hid them so we'd watch these," Dan said, gesturing at the small piles of tapes. "So sit down, watch the tapes, and Kim will bring us the others when we need them."

"You really believe that if we just sit back, it'll all work out." Casey sighed. "You're very content in your world of denial, aren't you?"

Dan grinned. "It's a happy place to live."

Of course, that was just the tip of the insanity iceberg. The peak of the craziness came when Dan walked in one afternoon, at half past three, shockingly early for Dan, and asked Casey to smell him.

"What?" Casey wondered if he should suspect Candid Camera, or something like that.

"Smell me."

Casey blinked. "No."

Dan actually seemed sincere. "Smell me, Casey."

"Seriously, Dan? *No.*"

"You're no help," Dan huffed and walked over to the desk.

"But smelling you would be helpful?" Casey asked doubtfully.

"New aftershave. It smells… weird."

"Then why did you buy it?"

Dan shrugged. "Mom sent it to me as an early birthday gift."

Casey frowned slightly, thinking that it was only the end of September. "That's a really *early* birthday gift."

"It's a present." Dan's eyes took on the familiar gleam of accepting gifts. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"You should, you know."

"What?"

"Look a gift horse in the mouth. It's a good sign of a horse's general health."

Now it was Dan's turn to look rather confused. "Who told you that?"

"Lisa."

"Pshaw," Dan said with a wave of his arm. "Anyway, Mom gave me aftershave but..."

"But it doesn't smell good?"

"I don't know." Dan shrugged. "It's not bad, it's just strange."

"Huh." Casey went back to reading over today's notes, and was interrupted a few moments later.

"Smell me."

"Am I going to get any work done, or are you just going to keep interrupting?"

Dan shrugged. "Interrupting."

Standing up, Casey stalked over to Dan. "Fine," Casey huffed, settling his hands on Dan's shoulders. He leaned in quickly and took a deep breath through his nose. He resolutely ignored the fact that he was standing so close to Dan, that Dan's skin was barely an inch from his lips, that Dan was standing there, letting him do this. He ignored that, and concentrated on the smell of Dan. He smelled of vanilla and pine air-freshener, and something strangely sweet. Not quite sickly sweet, but close. Pulling back, Casey said, "That is weird."

"You see my point?"

"Yeah. It's not bad, but...weird."

"There is a definite weirdness going on," Dan replied. "I don't know what it is, but it's weird."

"It's sweet," Casey replied. "Not flowers sweet, but... fruit sweet, maybe."

Dan's brows furrowed as he thought. "You think?"

Casey leaned in again, smelling Dan's neck. He froze there for a moment, trying to work out what the scent was. It was vaguely fruity, but he couldn't actually name it. He sighed in annoyance and Dan laughed.

"Sorry, ticklish."

"You smell like fruit," Casey replied in confusion. "I don't know which fruit, but you do."

"It's very weird."

"Very weird."

"Are you two finished necking?" Kim asked snidely, and Casey realized he still had his hands on Dan's shoulders.

Pulling his hands back, Casey explained, "Dan's new aftershave smells weird."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"We think it smells like fruit," Dan said, "but we're not sure. What do you think, Kim?"

Casey stepped aside and let Kim smell Dan. "Hm. Pears."

"Pears?" Dan repeated.

Kim nodded. "You smell like pears."

"You might be right," Casey said as he leaned over her to sniff the other side of Dan's neck. "Yeah. Danny does smell like pears."

"My mom bought me aftershave that smells like pears?" Dan wondered aloud.

"Apparently," Kim replied as she stepped back.

Someone cleared their throat, and Casey glanced behind them to see Isaac standing there, shaking his head. "I just don't want to know," Isaac said, and then walked to the conference room.

***