Chapter Text
It was a quiet Saturday night at St. Brendan’s Medical Center. Danny liked being on call on the weekend nights; not only were the procedures scheduled and efficient, but he was able to take over the doctor’s lounge in a way he wasn’t allowed to when his fellow colleagues and interns swarmed the lounge like a plague of locust. Yes, he quite enjoyed working late on a Saturday night; he got to be King of Castle. Well, not a king; he was the democratically elected president of the castle. Democracy was very important to Danny Castellano.
Danny was perched on the couch, feet kicked up on the table and thumbing through a file, as the Nature Channel served as white noise in the background. He could hear her as soon as she walked in, she doesn’t have the lightest of tread, but he played along with her game. He always did. He feels her lunge onto him, her delicate hands covering his eyes and her chin resting lightly on the top of his head.
“Guess who?” She chirps amicably into his ear.
“Mindy.”
Mindy uncovers his eyes and places a kiss behind his ear. She walks around and sits next to him on the couch, snuggling into his side.
“You never guess anything fun, Danny. For once, would it kill you to guess Keira Knightley?”
Danny shakes his head, bemused, “But isn’t this a logical guessing game? If I can properly identify your voice and the feel of your hands, why should I guess Keira Knightley?”
Mindy groans, “Ugh, you are no fun, just honestly the worst. And you are unironically watching a fishing show. Give me the remote, this show is so boring we might actually die if we keep watching it.”
“No,” Danny retorted, “It’s my night to be on call, I get to choose what show we watch. I didn’t except you here tonight. Why are you here, babe?”
“I got called in for an emergency C-section, Mrs. Masterson,’ Mindy says, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and reached up to unwrap her hair from the twist she’d placed it in during surgery, letting the hair cascade around her face.
“Oh, how’d that go?”
“How did it go? Amazing. I’m the best doctor in this practice, nay, this hospital.”
Danny scoffed, “Oh please, yeah, sure, Lahiri, whatever you need to believe.”
“I am Danny!” Mindy gasped, swatting his arm lightly, “How dare you?”
“You win, Lahiri,” Danny acquiesced, returning his attention to his file.
“I know,” Mindy beamed, “I always win.”
“Yeah, whatever, I let you win.” Danny murmured.
A comfortable silence enveloped the room as Danny studied the chart and Mindy scrolled through her phone. It was around midnight when Mindy squealed and dropped her phone directly into her lap.
“Danny!” Mindy exclaimed.
“What?”
“Guess what day it is, Danny!”
“Why?”
“Would you just guess, please?”
“Okay, fine,” Danny, groaned, “I know it’s Saturday night. The 13th of March? Are we celebrating some anniversary I don’t know about? Because our anniversary isn’t for another four months, I know it and I have it memorized.”
“No, Danny,” Mindy explained, “It’s 12:07! And do you know that means?”
“Clearly,” Danny retorted, “I do not.”
“It’s Pi Day!”
“Oh,” Danny realized, “You want me to make a pie? I don’t know if we have the ingredients but I can swing by the store on the way home in the morning. Are you feeling apple or something else?”
“No, I mean Pi Day,” Mindy said, rolling her eyes, “March 14th, 3.14, it's Pi Day!”
“Oh,” Danny said, “That’s clever. I like that. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Wait,” Mindy gasped, “Danny, have you never heard of Pi Day? It’s only one of the single greatest days of the year."
“No, I have. There was a really annoying girl during residency that organized a Pi Day Craft Day for all the kids in the pediatric ward. And I think there was a Pi Day Party Mixer that she convinced Dr. Shulman to make it mandatory for all the residents? That was pretty annoying, but the thing with the kids was pretty sweet. Wait, was that-”
“Danny!”
“What?”
“I was that girl, dummy!”
“Oh,” Danny responded with surprise, “Well did I mention I thought she was super hot?”
“Nice save, Castellano,” Mindy retorted, offended, “I can’t believe you didn’t remember it was me!”
“You can’t blame me,” Danny responded, “I didn’t know you that well back then! And you were a year behind me in residency. You were just kind of annoying and loud.”
“Ex-queeze me!”
“I mean a Pi Day Party sounds a little too nerdy for you. I wouldn’t have imagined you doing that. I would have imagined you doing something like that Residency Wide Lottery on what Brad and Agnes-“
“Angelina,” Mindy corrected.
“Right, Angelina,” Danny continued, “Whatever those two were gonna name their child.”
“Danny,” Mindy whined, “That was me too!”
“I know, that’s why I mentioned it!”
“Did you, Danny? Did you really? Or were so blinded by how annoying you think I am?’
“What? I never said that.”
Mindy scoffed, turning her head away from him, “Yeah, okay, whatever you say, Castellano.”
And then, Danny giggled. Mindy was taken aback.
“Daniel Castellano, are you laughing at me?”
“It’s just funny,” Danny, giggled, “You make fun of me all the time for a being a nerd, but you’re a total nerd, babe. Maybe even nerdier than me.”
“What? Absolutely not!”
“You threw a party dedicated to math! You’re such a nerd.”
“Yeah, okay, Danny! I like math! Maybe I am nerd! I went to two Ivy League schools it really shouldn’t be all that funny or surprising! And maybe I really like celebrating Pi Day with fun crafts and songs-“
“Songs?” Danny questioned her, incredulous.
“Yes, songs. But you know what Danny? I am a hot and nerdy intellectual with an ass that won't quit, like Olivia Munn. If People Magazine had a Sexiest Nerd Alive edition, I would win. Unlike you, you are a totally lame nerd, who tracks pollen counts and has all the state capitals memorized and votes in every election. And you’re a weirdo who goes to the gym and knows all the history of Staten Island - Danny, why are you still laughing at me?”
Mindy smacks him with a pillow, but Danny just keeps laughing.
“Min,” Danny laughs, “Why’d you get so defensive? I was going to say I thought it was kind of hot. I might even do some Pi related crafts with you later.”
Mindy eyed him suspiciously, “Really, Danny? Do you think my passion for irrational numbers is sexy?”
“Really.”
Mindy’s smile turned sly as she climbed onto his lap, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
She wraps her hands around his neck, “Would it be sexy if I recited all the digits of Pi that I have memorized?”
“So sexy, but on one condition?”
“What?”
“Kiss me after each one.”
Mindy murmured against his lips, “I think I can manage that, you nerd.”