Work Text:
"No, God- Agh Ross!" A frustrated cry from an equally frustrated Danny reverberated around the Grumps room during a particularly late recording session, their state-of-the-art cheapy microphone taking in every sound of drowsy annoyance uttered after every screw-up they made. Dread Out wasn't his most favorite game, Danny had to admit. "Does that look like the fuckin' ghost we need to get?" He asked for the millionth time, his eyes stinging from how long he'd been staring at the screen and his heart thumping a mile a minute from the crazy stupid scares this game had in store for them around every turn.
"What the hell, Danny? I did it right!" Ross frowned as he pulled away from the keyboard and looked back at the exhausted man, noting just a smidgen of stress arching the stoner's brow one degree higher than he would have preferred for such a late night. He knew his fellow Steam Train partner was afraid of ghost games, but he didn't know he was THAT afraid. The bloke just looked all-around worn out. Maybe it had to do with the fact they had just recorded something like 8 episodes of them doing the same exact thing--which was pretty upsetting, Ross had to admit--Or maybe it was a lack of Arin cutting jokes in a time of terror like he usually did to ease the tension of fright. Of course, Arin wasn't here and Ross sure as hell wasn't going to stop now--he was just getting started. After the 16th death cutscene, he was sure he had figured it out.
Danny, however, wasn't looking so hot, and therefore he came up with a short, soon-to-fail plan that would probably snap him out of it.
Bright blues snapped to the small plastic timer on the table--ten minutes and counting--and the little Australian smiled with pitiful relief. They only had to record like 3 more minutes, and he could definitely wander around aimlessly for 180 more seconds any day.
"Daaaaaaaannnnyyyyyy..." He whined, looking to his right where the grumpy man--heh! maybe he should trade with Arin as the grump--sat, making sure to accentuate the 'eeee' at the end--that usually made Dan smile that cute little side smile, albeit reluctantly. (good one, Ross)
But instead all he received was a bored glance over in his general direction as a response. The way Ross had said his name had made his heart skip a small beat for only a nanosecond, but he never showed it. Ross's accent was to die for, never mind the times it was utterly annoying. "God Dammit, Ross, what?" Came the standard reply, leaving Dan wondering why the heck he wasn't playing while he spoke as usual. They should have been so done with this game by now...
"I'm so tired.."
"Heh, Welcome to the club, buddy. Now find that ghost. I just read online that-"
"No, Danny, I'm /really/ tired." Ross insisted, placing a firm hand on his thigh to grab his attention from the screen.
Dan looked down at Ross's hand, then up to his face, a look of confusion adding to the emotional roller coaster on display on the handsome man's features. The small blond winked, and his stomach churned in excitement at the sight, stirring up all those butterflies he had attempted to shoo away for the Australian a long ago. He, too, checked the timer and shrugged, deciding on a /totally random and unrelated/ whim to end the episode there. "Alright, lovelies, because Ross is too chicken to finish this game, we're gonna take a break and see if we can find this damn slippery goober next time on Steam Train." He closed flawlessly as he usually did, clicking the microphone off and looking to Ross expectantly as if to say 'now what?'
But Ross was only sitting there and smiling like the big dork he was, his hand still on Dan's thigh.
"What is it?" He asked, not being able to take the silence anymore. The warm hand on his thigh began to rub up and down soothingly, and another perplexed look came upon him in response to the nervous pricks in his stomach from the contact. "What the he-"
"I think you need to chill out, dude." Ross cocked his head to the side and witnessed him visibly relax, shifting their positions and resulting in both of the devoted gamers facing each other. His pale hands found their wAy to Dan's shoulders, slipping underneath his leather jacket and kneading the stiff muscles holding all the pent-up frustration. Ross had always seen Arin do that to Suzy to calm her down, so maybe it would work here for his friend.
Dan exhaled softly and loosened up a bit, letting out little moans of appreciation every now and then for the fine work of Ross's bony fingers. The rubber ninja smiled slightly when Dan fell forward and leaned his head on his shoulders as he got to work, totally submitting to the relief that he was delivering. They stayed that way for a couple minutes, and Ross just took pleasure In the sounds he was making, translating them into praise for him and his massage.
Finding this gesture super nice, something in the soothed Dan clicked, and he was able to move again, sitting up from his hunched position and pushing Ross back onto the arm of the couch slowly, bringing their faces mere centimeters apart as he leaned over the Australian. His breath smelled like skittles, but he really didn't care at that very moment. He held the smaller man in his arms, enjoying the feeling of their closeness. His stomach was flipping out of control, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He had to thank him for that totally awesome massage. It really helped him out and happened to put him in the mood for a little romance.
"Thank you." He muttered, his lips ghosting over Ross's, his chocolatey eyes smiling bright now. Ross moved his arms around the Jersey boy's neck, looking into his eyes for a sign of tiredness as shivers rolled up his own spine at his voice. He really liked it when his partner slipped into his low tome on accident.
"Hey..Danny?"
"Yeah?" He answered, his voice smooth and hot.
"I think I know where the ghost is now. It's upstairs to the left." Ross nodded proudly, completely killing the mood. What once was a sweet, sensual moment was now the atmosphere they had begun with at the beginning of this riff-raff--probably appropriate for all the Grumps to be in, even.
Danny pushed himself off of him immediately, face flushed and his mind totally out of it now. All that could be heard from him was the ultra low, ultra annoyed whisper of..
"God dammit, Ross..."