SN Wip: Three Days
Oct. 1st, 2006 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereContinued from here...
***
Dana, despite the occasional lost shoe, bout of insomnia and the way her desklamp kept getting traded for a newer model, had a good understanding of the pressure of working with TV. She knew how to improvise and how to get her employees to do what she wanted.
Dan was pretty sure that explained why Kim and Eliot spent the C-breaks standing four yards from the anchor desk and flinging paperclips at Casey.
"We do what we're told," Eliot said, landing another paperclip on Casey's bowed head.
"Just following orders." Kim's paperclip went wild, skittering to the edge of the desk and teetering for a moment, before falling to the studio floor. "We're not in charge of how fun the orders are going to be."
Allison ducked in twenty seconds before they came back to air, and fished the paperclips out of Casey's hair and collar.
"Et tu, Allison?" Casey grumbled, but then the cameras rolled and Rofalski's knees were more important than office feuds.
Dan felt somewhat responsible. No one had said so, no one had even muttered the words Draft and Day in the same sentence, but it was there. And if there was anything he could do to reduce the tension around the office, he had an obligation to do it.
He went to Dana's office after the show.
Dana was on the phone, calling someone "the most stupid man to have ever mastered the art of breathing." Dan's suspicions were confirmed when she said Casey's name.
Dan grinned hopefully. "Dana?"
"Okay, I have to go. The half of your partnership who isn't an idiot is standing in my office right now." Dana hung up the phone and then gave that nervous half-chuckle that meant she'd hit the clutch and was changing mental gears. "Dan. How can I help?"
"You could tell my why Casey's an idiot."
"I don't have enough time to answer that. I need to sleep tonight." Dana snorted. "Let's just say that the reasons are numerous and I suspect his mother dropped him on the head as a baby."
"Let me rephrase: why is being a bigger idiot today? He got a source for the Rofalski thing, and that wasn't easy. As far as I can see," Dan said, sitting on her couch and then twisting to be able to see Dana behind her desk, "he's did good tonight."
"It's not what he did, it's what he won't do," Dana said, and then gave him a long look. "Danny--"
Dan groaned; Dana only called him that when she was trying to soften the blow. "If this is about the 100 Most Influential People, can I point out yet again that I'm not going to have a breakdown if someone mentions it? This is getting ridiculous. Yes, I reacted badly last year but there were things going on that had nothing to do with Sports Night. It was a one-off thing, not a new precedent."
There was a long moment where Dan stared at Dana and Dana stared at her fingertips and then she said, "I really need to get my nails done."
"Dana!"
"Okay, fine," she said, throwing her hands up in the air, "you will not explode. But forewarned is forearmed, and Casey's being an idiot. He should be in here, right now, finding out about the list so he can get the gloating out of his system without you having to see it. It's a very ugly side of him," she added, in a lowered voice.
"I thought the list didn't get leaked until tomorrow?"
"Natalie knows a guy. She's getting an email of it tonight."
Dan frowned, and then he got it. "Because it's after midnight, so it's technically tomorrow."
"Exactly."
"And you wanted Casey to see the list so I wouldn't freak out?"
There should have been a word for a movement that was half a shrug and half a cringe -- a shringe maybe -- because that was what Dana did. She shringed and said, "Kinda."
"And he won't because..."
"He's an idiot."
"Uh-huh," Dan said, and she shringed again. "How about we do it the other way around? I'll see the list first and then Casey doesn't have to see my first reaction."
"That's probably not a good idea--" Dana started, but Natalie bounded into the room, waving a few pages of printer paper.
"We've got it!" Natalie announced, then she glanced at the couch and saw Dan. "Um, I mean, tomorrow's rundown. We got the rundown sheet to print. But clearly not enough copies for everyone, so I'll go back to the printer."
"Smooth," Dan said. "Read out the damn list."
Natalie stuck out her chin and bluffed in a truly horrible way. "It's not a list, it's a rundown sheet."
"It's a list."
"It's a rundown sheet."
"It's a--"
"It's a list," Dana interrupted, stopping them before they devolved to calling each other big meanies. (It had happened in the past, and possibly would happen again. Dan and Natalie had a unique way of arguing that Jeremy and Casey had learnt not to mock.) "Nat, Dan knows."
Shaking her head slowly, Natalie stage-whispered, "It's amazing you keep your coffee stash a secret."
Dan perked up. "You have a coffee stash?"
"One, no, I don't. Two, remember the list, the important list? Can we focus on that, please?"
Natalie leaned down, but didn't whisper quietly enough. "I was trying to distract him."
"With my coffee!" Dana hissed back.
"From the list." Natalie rustled the papers in her hand.
"Ladies," Dan said, and Natalie snapped upright so quickly she nearly overbalanced, "how about you just tell me what number casey is this year, and then we can all go home?"
Dana turned to Natalie expectantly.
"I don't know," Natalie said, "I only printed it. I didn't read it."
"Then how about you read it now?" Dana said, voicing Dan's thoughts.
Natalie shot Dana an unimpressed look, as if Dana should be shooing Dan out of the room and refusing to acknowledge his presence and Dana knew it. Dana gazed back with an expression that clearly stated that while Casey was being the biggest idiot ever, Natalie was currently vying for second place in that race.
Dan just wondered when he'd started to understand women's looks.
"Fine," Natalie said, and turned over the first page. And the second. And the third. When she got to the fourth, she stopped. "Seventy-eight."
Natalie whooped and passed the page to Dana. Dan realised that this was the time to show his enthusiasm.
"Seventy-eight from ninety-two? In twelve months? We are damn good," he said, standing up and wondering if he'd have to see Casey in the elevator if he left now. "Or Casey is, but you know that if I wasn't doing my bit, he wouldn't look half as good."
"That's not the reason we're grinning, you doofus," Natalie said with a smile so wide the top of her head was in danger of falling off. "You're on the list."
"Cool!" Suddenly, his smile didn't feel so fake. "What number?" He wasn't competitive, he wasn't, but damnit he deserved at least a ninety-two.
Dana called out like the most hyperactive cheerleader ever. "Seventy-nine, baby!"
"Casey and I are seventy-eight and seventy-nine?" Dan asked, making sure he'd heard that right. The girls nodded. He clapped his hands together and raised his arms in victory, and possibly looked a little like a psycho cheerleader himself. "Fantastic! Beyond fantastic! This is... fantastic, Dana! We've got to tell Casey."
"Casey doesn't want to know," Dana replied, still smiling. But they were all smiling now. "He doesn't want to know anything until he has a copy of the magazine."
"That's only because he's an idiot," Dan called out, already stepping into the hallway and hoping he could catch Casey before he left.
"That's what I've been saying!"
***
***
Dana, despite the occasional lost shoe, bout of insomnia and the way her desklamp kept getting traded for a newer model, had a good understanding of the pressure of working with TV. She knew how to improvise and how to get her employees to do what she wanted.
Dan was pretty sure that explained why Kim and Eliot spent the C-breaks standing four yards from the anchor desk and flinging paperclips at Casey.
"We do what we're told," Eliot said, landing another paperclip on Casey's bowed head.
"Just following orders." Kim's paperclip went wild, skittering to the edge of the desk and teetering for a moment, before falling to the studio floor. "We're not in charge of how fun the orders are going to be."
Allison ducked in twenty seconds before they came back to air, and fished the paperclips out of Casey's hair and collar.
"Et tu, Allison?" Casey grumbled, but then the cameras rolled and Rofalski's knees were more important than office feuds.
Dan felt somewhat responsible. No one had said so, no one had even muttered the words Draft and Day in the same sentence, but it was there. And if there was anything he could do to reduce the tension around the office, he had an obligation to do it.
He went to Dana's office after the show.
Dana was on the phone, calling someone "the most stupid man to have ever mastered the art of breathing." Dan's suspicions were confirmed when she said Casey's name.
Dan grinned hopefully. "Dana?"
"Okay, I have to go. The half of your partnership who isn't an idiot is standing in my office right now." Dana hung up the phone and then gave that nervous half-chuckle that meant she'd hit the clutch and was changing mental gears. "Dan. How can I help?"
"You could tell my why Casey's an idiot."
"I don't have enough time to answer that. I need to sleep tonight." Dana snorted. "Let's just say that the reasons are numerous and I suspect his mother dropped him on the head as a baby."
"Let me rephrase: why is being a bigger idiot today? He got a source for the Rofalski thing, and that wasn't easy. As far as I can see," Dan said, sitting on her couch and then twisting to be able to see Dana behind her desk, "he's did good tonight."
"It's not what he did, it's what he won't do," Dana said, and then gave him a long look. "Danny--"
Dan groaned; Dana only called him that when she was trying to soften the blow. "If this is about the 100 Most Influential People, can I point out yet again that I'm not going to have a breakdown if someone mentions it? This is getting ridiculous. Yes, I reacted badly last year but there were things going on that had nothing to do with Sports Night. It was a one-off thing, not a new precedent."
There was a long moment where Dan stared at Dana and Dana stared at her fingertips and then she said, "I really need to get my nails done."
"Dana!"
"Okay, fine," she said, throwing her hands up in the air, "you will not explode. But forewarned is forearmed, and Casey's being an idiot. He should be in here, right now, finding out about the list so he can get the gloating out of his system without you having to see it. It's a very ugly side of him," she added, in a lowered voice.
"I thought the list didn't get leaked until tomorrow?"
"Natalie knows a guy. She's getting an email of it tonight."
Dan frowned, and then he got it. "Because it's after midnight, so it's technically tomorrow."
"Exactly."
"And you wanted Casey to see the list so I wouldn't freak out?"
There should have been a word for a movement that was half a shrug and half a cringe -- a shringe maybe -- because that was what Dana did. She shringed and said, "Kinda."
"And he won't because..."
"He's an idiot."
"Uh-huh," Dan said, and she shringed again. "How about we do it the other way around? I'll see the list first and then Casey doesn't have to see my first reaction."
"That's probably not a good idea--" Dana started, but Natalie bounded into the room, waving a few pages of printer paper.
"We've got it!" Natalie announced, then she glanced at the couch and saw Dan. "Um, I mean, tomorrow's rundown. We got the rundown sheet to print. But clearly not enough copies for everyone, so I'll go back to the printer."
"Smooth," Dan said. "Read out the damn list."
Natalie stuck out her chin and bluffed in a truly horrible way. "It's not a list, it's a rundown sheet."
"It's a list."
"It's a rundown sheet."
"It's a--"
"It's a list," Dana interrupted, stopping them before they devolved to calling each other big meanies. (It had happened in the past, and possibly would happen again. Dan and Natalie had a unique way of arguing that Jeremy and Casey had learnt not to mock.) "Nat, Dan knows."
Shaking her head slowly, Natalie stage-whispered, "It's amazing you keep your coffee stash a secret."
Dan perked up. "You have a coffee stash?"
"One, no, I don't. Two, remember the list, the important list? Can we focus on that, please?"
Natalie leaned down, but didn't whisper quietly enough. "I was trying to distract him."
"With my coffee!" Dana hissed back.
"From the list." Natalie rustled the papers in her hand.
"Ladies," Dan said, and Natalie snapped upright so quickly she nearly overbalanced, "how about you just tell me what number casey is this year, and then we can all go home?"
Dana turned to Natalie expectantly.
"I don't know," Natalie said, "I only printed it. I didn't read it."
"Then how about you read it now?" Dana said, voicing Dan's thoughts.
Natalie shot Dana an unimpressed look, as if Dana should be shooing Dan out of the room and refusing to acknowledge his presence and Dana knew it. Dana gazed back with an expression that clearly stated that while Casey was being the biggest idiot ever, Natalie was currently vying for second place in that race.
Dan just wondered when he'd started to understand women's looks.
"Fine," Natalie said, and turned over the first page. And the second. And the third. When she got to the fourth, she stopped. "Seventy-eight."
Natalie whooped and passed the page to Dana. Dan realised that this was the time to show his enthusiasm.
"Seventy-eight from ninety-two? In twelve months? We are damn good," he said, standing up and wondering if he'd have to see Casey in the elevator if he left now. "Or Casey is, but you know that if I wasn't doing my bit, he wouldn't look half as good."
"That's not the reason we're grinning, you doofus," Natalie said with a smile so wide the top of her head was in danger of falling off. "You're on the list."
"Cool!" Suddenly, his smile didn't feel so fake. "What number?" He wasn't competitive, he wasn't, but damnit he deserved at least a ninety-two.
Dana called out like the most hyperactive cheerleader ever. "Seventy-nine, baby!"
"Casey and I are seventy-eight and seventy-nine?" Dan asked, making sure he'd heard that right. The girls nodded. He clapped his hands together and raised his arms in victory, and possibly looked a little like a psycho cheerleader himself. "Fantastic! Beyond fantastic! This is... fantastic, Dana! We've got to tell Casey."
"Casey doesn't want to know," Dana replied, still smiling. But they were all smiling now. "He doesn't want to know anything until he has a copy of the magazine."
"That's only because he's an idiot," Dan called out, already stepping into the hallway and hoping he could catch Casey before he left.
"That's what I've been saying!"
***
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 12:35 am (UTC)Is there's more? *hopeful*
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 11:06 am (UTC)Danny's adorable. Especially when he's being, y'know, the best friend ever. *huggles him*
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 08:31 am (UTC)i'm all smiley now.
and having the strange urge to start up a secret coffee stash...
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 11:04 am (UTC)Yay. That's always a good sign.
and having the strange urge to start up a secret coffee stash...
I have one. Although it's not that secret -- bottom desk draw -- and it's not particularly good coffee -- Nescafe instant stuff -- and it only exists because work doesn't supply coffee...
...but still, having your own stash is fun.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 09:21 am (UTC)So many great bits. And the perfect characterisation of Dana.
the way her desklamp kept getting traded for a newer model,
Dana hung up the phone and then gave that nervous half-chuckle that meant she'd hit the clutch and was changing mental gears. "
There should have been a word for a movement that was half a shrug and half a cringe -- a shringe maybe -- because that was what Dana did. She shringed and said, "Kinda."
Yes, yes and yes!
And Yay! for Dan making the list. Just the way it was supposed to be.
I can pretend to be patient for the next bit, but I'm not really.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 11:51 am (UTC)I'm particularly proud of those lines, actually. I love the idea of a "shringe" -- and the idea of Dan thinking like that, randomly making up words to describe how he sees the world -- and that half-chuckle is one of those things that Dana does so often in the series you almost don't notice it.
And Yay! for Dan making the list. Just the way it was supposed to be.
Exactly!
I can pretend to be patient for the next bit, but I'm not really.
Hee. Like I can pretend that I turned the computer on to work on the next bit, but I'm not. (I need to go to bed.)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 10:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 11:22 am (UTC)Also, I don't think we ever actually see Casey screw up on air, and... look, I get a bit defensive when it comes to the competition thing between Dan and Casey. (As you know.) I just... As much as Casey can be a jackass, I think he gets a bit too much of the blame when it comes to whole Draft Day fiasco. Yes, he got bitchy but Dan wasn't an innocent saint.
*handwaves*
Nonetheless, it's nice to write fics where the boys both end up happy.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-04 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-05 06:34 am (UTC)Hee! That's... well, that's something Kim would say in canon, so I can understand the confusion.