Work Text:
May 20th, 2016. 10:00 PM.
Dan's shoes announce his presence with a series of measured squeaks as he reenters the office. He flips through his legal pad, sinking into the couch with an oof.
"So," he starts, crossing out four lines of unfortunate puns, "I think I need a better intro for the third—"
"Shhhh!"
The collective shush rises from the assorted people who have taken occupancy in Dan and Casey's not exactly oversized office. None of them seem to be overly concerned with work.
Dan clears his throat. "Much as I appreciate you all lounging around uselessly, don't we have a show to put on in an hour?"
Natalie waves vaguely at the flatscreen. "We're watching the hockey game," she says.
"So then, lounging around uselessly," Dan says.
"It's the playoffs," Jeremy points out.
"It's hockey," Dan says flatly. "No one cares."
"You're right, Dan, the city of New York does not care that the Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders are taking place at this very moment on New York City grounds."
Dan swirls his pen between two fingers. "Now you get me."
Jeremy looks like he's about to say something, but bites his lip with a groan.
Casey looks at Dan from his perch on the couch's armrest. "You really enjoy doing that to him, don't you?"
Dan grins. "I really do."
The CSC theme music blares from the TV. "Aaaaand we're headed to overtime," Natalie says, leaping to her feet. "Kim, you working on splicing up—"
"Highlights, on it," Kim says.
"Overtime!" Natalie says again, with an excited grin. "Everybody loves overtime."
"Everybody except fans of the teams," Dana says. "Looking a little green there, Jer."
Jeremy swallows. "I'm good. The Islanders can do it. They shall persevere and return to their days of glory." He stands up, still looking a little queasy. "I'm going to go dig up some stats."
"Have fun with that," Dan says.
"Days of glory!" Jeremy tosses out to the bullpen as he exits. The others scatter – finally at least pretending to be busy - until it's only Dan and Casey in the office.
"I really could use a better intro for the third," Dan says.
"Depending on how the game goes, we might not have a third," Casey says. "Or a second. Or a first. We're not on till the game's over."
"Oh, come on," Dan says. "No way it's gonna be on that long."
Dan's phone rings from an unidentified number.
He picks up. "Yeah'llo?"
"Hey, Danny boy!" a cheerful voice sounds from the other end.
"Yes?"
"It's Jakey!"
"Uh…” Dan raises his eyebrows, exchanging a look with Casey. “Jakey what?"
"Your cousin Jake."
“I really don’t--”
“Second cousin. Jake Peralta. You hooked me up with Knicks tickets five years ago, I got you out of a parking ticket, absolutely no bribery or nepotism involved.”
The penny drops. "Oh. Hey man, how ya doin'?"
Peralta sounds about as far removed from composed as can be.
"Haha, ha. Funny you should ask. I'm at the Barclays Center, and. See. We have a bit of a situation."
Dan listens. At the end of the call, he hangs up, and takes a breath.
“Well,” he tells Casey’s questioning look. “It seems there’s a possibility overtime actually will take that long after all.”