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When Natalie and Jeremy finally bit the bullet and moved in together, they decided to hold a housewarming party.
"We've got to have a warm house," Natalie said when Jeremy seemed a bit reluctant.
"We live in an apartment, Natalie," Jeremy pointed out.
"A warm apartment then." She dimpled a smile at him. "Pleeeease!"
He didn't stand a chance.
~*~*~
They held the party on a Saturday night, the only night they all had free. Natalie made sure everyone knew that presents were not only welcome but also necessary.
Dana bought them a lamp; Kim bought them some cushions. Elliot and Chris went halves in a rug for the living room while Dave bought them a fern. Will and his wife bought them a clock and Isaac sent his apologies and a nice set of wine glasses. Dan bought them a very expensive framed print for their bedroom and Casey, with his usual extravagance of imagination, bought them a blender.
"A blender, Casey?" Dan had asked as their taxi inched along in Saturday evening traffic.
"It's a good blender. It's got attachments."
Dan resisted the urge to tell him what he could do with his attachments.
"At least Babbette and Ceazar have got the right idea," Dan said, glancing down at his feet to where the llamas were nestled in a brown paper carry bag with a bottle of tequila, a packet of salt and a bag of limes.
"I can't believe you bought the llamas," Casey grumbled.
"They're entitled to have a night out, just like everyone else."
"Just so you know," Casey said, "you're insane."
Dan grinned at him. "Never claimed to be anything else."
~*~*~
"Llamas bring the best presents!" Natalie exclaimed happily when she saw the tequila, salt and limes.
"And with the blender, you can make perfect margaritas," Casey added smugly.
"Ooo, margaritas!" Dana cooed, her eyes sparkling at the thought.
"You haven't got Boogie Shoes anywhere around here have you?" Dan asked Jeremy, sotto voice.
"It might have accidentally gotten mixed up with the stuff we sent to Goodwill when we were packing up Natalie's old apartment," Jeremy murmured. "I don't think she's noticed."
"You're a wise, wise man, Jeremy Goodwin."
"I do what I have to do, Dan," Jeremy said, nodding sagely. "I do what I have to do."
~*~*~
Five hours, many margaritas and several enchilada platters later, a ragged group of people sat around in a circle on a soft new rug playing truth or dare.
"Truth or dare?" Dana said, focusing a pair of slightly bleary eyes on Natalie.
Natalie took a sip of her margarita and thought for a moment. "Okay, truth."
Dana grinned at her. "My Dolce & Gabbana skirt. The one you had to replace after borrowing it for a date. What really happened to it?"
Natalie snorted up some margarita and blushed bright red.
"Oh Dana, you really don't want to know."
"Sure I do."
"Believe me, you don't."
"I'd like to know," Elliot piped up. Everyone looked at him. "What? I'm curious."
"So am I," Kim said, winking at Elliot.
"Come on Nat," Chris slurred a little. "You said truth and let the truth be known."
There was general agreement that the truth should be known and all eyes turned to Natalie who was still blushing up a storm.
"Okay," she said reluctantly. She glanced nervously at Jeremy. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Maybe I should just leave the room," Jeremy said, adjusting his glasses reflexively.
"Oh no." Natalie grabbed his wrist. "If I have to tell, you have to stay."
Jeremy obediently stayed where he was, fortifying himself with a big gulp of margarita.
Natalie took in a deep breath. "Dana, you know how I wanted to wear it that time I went to the opera?"
Jeremy looked at her, puzzled. "I've never taken you to the opera."
"It was when we broke up."
"Which time was that?" Dave asked.
Natalie silenced him with a look. "Anyway, I wanted to wear it with my black beaded sweater--"
"The one with the scooped neck?" Kim asked.
"That's the one."
Kim nodded approvingly. "Very nice."
"And Craig really wanted to impress me so he borrowed his boss' box at the opera."
Jeremy blanched. "Craig? You dated someone called Craig?"
"We'd broken up, Mr. 'I dated a porn star and never slept with her!'" Natalie snapped.
Dan exchanged a glance with Casey. "How many guys do we know called Craig?"
"And who works for a guy who has a box at the opera?" Casey asked thoughtfully.
Natalie glared at them. "Can I tell my story please?"
They both sat back and assumed dutiful listening expressions.
"Okay, so Craig and I were listening to some stupid fat woman screech--"
"You don't like opera very much, do you?" Casey observed dryly. More glaring ensued and Casey shrank back looking abashed.
"--and we were both pretty bored, so I leaned over and told him I could think of better things to do with a private box at the opera and he said 'Oh yeah, what?' The next thing you know--" Natalie stopped abruptly and turned an interesting shade of puce. "So anyway, the skirt got a little--messy and I couldn't get the stain out."
Everyone, except Jeremy and Dana, started laughing.
"I really didn't need to know that," Dana said, looking a little pale.
"Neither did I," Jeremy added, looking even paler.
"Is having sex at the opera like joining the mile high club?" Elliot asked. Everyone looked at him. "What? I'm just asking!"
"I think it's time to move on to someone else," Natalie said, leaning over to spin the bottle.
"Woohoo, go Dan," Chris cheered as the bottle ground to a halt.
Natalie leaned in toward Dan, a malevolent gleam in her eyes. "Truth or dare, Danny?"
Dan frowned, swallowing uneasily. Given the amount of alcohol they'd consumed and predatory way Natalie was looking at him, he wasn't sure it was the right moment for a dare. But truth wasn't looking that great either. Not that he was hiding very much thanks to both Dana and Natalie and their insistence on full disclosure at all times.
He glanced sideways at Casey, hoping for some support from his partner, but Casey just winked and gave him an 'It's you funeral' kind of smirk.
Dan bit the bullet. "Dare."
Natalie's eyes lit up like beacons. "You're sure?"
"No."
"Too bad."
Looking him straight in the eye, Natalie's smile became almost manic. Dan shifted uncomfortably, wondering if it wasn't too late to go for truth.
"Okay," she finally said. "Kiss Casey."
"What?" the anchors exclaimed in unison.
"You heard me."
"H--here?" Dan stammered.
"You do it all the time at home," Natalie pointed out.
"But--but, that's at home," Casey said uneasily.
"Which isn't here," Dan added, because while it was one thing for their colleagues to know they were together, it was another thing entirely to give them an up close and personal demonstration.
He glanced at Casey, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable and seemed to be trying to disappear into the rug, then shifted his gaze back to his diabolical friend.
"Nat, I don't--"
"Well, if you're too chicken-shit--" she teased as the other jeered from the sidelines.
"No, it's not--"
"Chicken-shit, chicken-shit," Natalie chanted.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Dan exclaimed and leaned over to press his lips against Casey's.
As far as kisses go, it was hardly earth shattering. More of a touch really, skin on skin, lasting no more than a few seconds and Dan only just made contact when Casey carefully drew back.
Dan looked at Casey, trying to read him, but his partner's expression was completely inscrutable. He sat back heavily on his haunches, feeling like he'd been slapped.
"Satisfied?" Casey asked Natalie, brows drawn down tightly.
Natalie blinked a couple of times, her former exuberance having deserted her. "I guess."
Casey reached out and grabbed the margarita jug. "Who wants another drink?" he asked and headed toward the kitchen, leaving Dan to wonder at the sudden hollow in his heart.
~*~*~
With his mind on everything except the person sitting next to him on the back seat of the taxi, it took Dan a couple of minutes to realise that Casey was speaking to him.
"--and since Dana's pushed the noon rundown back to two o'clock, what d'you think?"
"What do I think about what?"
"Taking Charlie out for breakfast tomorrow. Are you even listening to me?"
"Not really."
The taxi stopped stopped to let a pedestrian cross and Dan stared out the window, watching the little man go from green to red.
"Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing's gotten into me."
"Then what's with the silent treatment."
"There's no silent treatment, Casey. I'm tired and I'm drunk. What else do you want from me?"
"Nothing, but--"
"There's nothing going on, Casey. I'm just tired."
Really, there wasn't anything going on.
Except for the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about how Casey had pulled away when he kissed him. Damn Natalie and her stupid game of truth or dare.
He flinched when Casey gently rapped him on the head with his fist.
"Anyone home?" Casey asked drolly.
"Casey," Dan growled, gesturing over at the cab driver. Last thing they needed was to end up as this week's sensational scoop on E! Online.
Casey pulled his hand away without another word and all of a sudden they were in front of Casey's apartment.
"You gonna come up?" he asked as the taxi drew to a halt.
"I'm pretty tired, Casey," Dan said, not looking at him. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"You sure? I can make you some cocoa."
Dan snorted. Casey made terrible cocoa and they both knew it, but somewhere along the line him offering to make cocoa had turned into a kind of code speak for 'You wanna stay the night and fool around?' However Dan wasn't in the mood for either cocoa or staying over.
"I just wanna crash, Casey. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
He turned away from Casey's befuddled, slightly disappointed expression.
"Okay," Casey said slowly. "Breakfast with Charlie?"
"What--?" Dan frowned, trying to remember what they'd talked about earlier. Oh, yeah, Charlie. "Um, can I take a raincheck?"
Casey's lips drew down in a thin line. "Sure, whatever." He grabbed Babbette off the seat, opened the taxi door and stepped out. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"Night Danny," he said softly and shut the door.
~*~*~
"Danny, what's going on?"
Dan groaned and rolled over in bed. He knew he shouldn't have answered the phone, but some stupid voice inside his head told him to and he just had to go ahead and listen.
"Casey, do you know what time it is?"
"It's a quarter to five. What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on."
"I think there is."
"Then you'd be wrong. And I'm going back to sleep."
"Wait! No!"
"What? Casey, I'm--"
"It was the kiss, wasn't it?"
"Huh?"
"When Natalie dared you to kiss me, you didn't want to."
"Casey--"
"You didn't want to, did you?"
Dan rolled on to his back, cradling the phone between his shoulder and the pillow. Next to his pillow, Ceazar stood watching him with bright glass eyes. Dan damped down the urge to take the llama in his arms and squeeze the 'baa' out of him.
"Casey what I did or did not want to do at the time is totally irrelevant. It was a game. A stupid game and we'd both been drinking so can we please drop this and let me go back to sleep?"
"No we can't drop it," Casey said doggedly and Dan began to regret even giving him his phone number. "Why were you so pissed with me in the taxi?"
"I wasn't pissed with you."
"I think you were."
Dan had to stop himself from shouting. "I was tired, Casey, and all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed. Is that too much to comprehend?"
"You were pissed with me," Casey said snidely, "and it has something to do with what happened at the party."
Dan did not want to start on this. Not at a quarter to five in the morning. Only now he had a very peeved and slightly alarmed Casey on the other end of the phone and he just knew that his partner would not let things go until they'd talked them out. So much for Casey being the emotionally reticent one of the duo, he thought sourly.
"Okay, so I was pissed with you. And you want to know why?"
"Yes, I do."
"I kissed you."
"I know that," Casey said tightly. Dan could practically hear him grinding his teeth at the other end of the line. "What that got to do with--?"
"It has everything to do with why I'm pissed."
"It does?"
"Yes, it does."
"Are you gonna tell me why."
Dan drew in a ragged breath. He really didn't want to do this. Not now. Not until he'd had time to think about how to handle this, or talk to Isaac about what he should do next, or both. He should have remembered that life rarely gave you the opportunity to plan things out the way you would like to.
"You pulled away."
"I what?"
"You pulled away, Casey. I kissed you in front of God and everyone and you pulled away."
Casey was very silent for a moment. So silent Dan was about to ask if he was still there when Casey said softly, "Jesus, Danny. I didn't think--"
"No, you didn't. And maybe I'm over reacting, but, you know, some stupid, wildly insane part of me thought it's be okay to kiss my boyfriend in front of our friends. Guess I was wrong, huh?"
Dan's voice cracked a little and he flung his arm over his eyes, grateful that Casey's couldn't see the tears forming in the corners.
Truth was, he wasn't really sure why he'd become so upset about Casey pulling back when he did. He knew how much his partner hated having his private life paraded before all and sundry and aside from occasional slips, they strove to keep their work and personal relationships as separate as possible, which wasn't easy with Dana and Natalie around. He just didn't think Casey pulling away like that would hurt so much.
"God, Danny--I didn't--I mean--"
"Maybe not, but you did."
Casey was very silent for a moment. So silent that the only way Dan knew he was still there was from the soft sound of his breathing at the other end of the line.
"I not that guy, Danny," Casey said eventually, his voice so soft it was barely above a whisper. "I hate having my private life dragged around in public."
"I know you do."
"But I didn't want--I didn't mean--"
"Casey?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we talk about this tomorrow?"
"I'm sorry, Danny."
Casey's voice cracked a little and something hot settled inside Dan's chest.
"I know you are but can we talk about this tomorrow?"
"Don't you mean today?"
"Okay, today," Dan said tiredly, playing along because Casey only made bad jokes like that when he was really trying for contrition. "I'll see you at the office. We can talk then, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Night Danny," Casey responded gently and Dan hung up the phone.
"Is it morning yet?" he ask Ceazar. Ceazar just looked at him with impassive llama eyes. "You're no help," Dan muttered and rolled onto his side with Ceazar wrapped in his arms.
~*~*~
The next morning, Dan barely made it in to work before the (temporary) two o'clock rundown was due to start.
"You're late," Natalie said, pouncing on him the minute he hit their floor.
"Overslept," he flung over his shoulder, charging through the newsroom toward his office. "Meeting started yet?"
"Just about." Natalie followed him into the office. "Dana want's you to do something on the Super Bowl thing."
"Jesus, aren't we over that yet?"
"ESPN and Fox are still doing it so it looks like we are to."
"Aren't we good little sheep," Dan snarked as he scrabbled through his briefcase for his notes.
"Rundown in three," Natalie snapped and darted out the door.
Dan finally found his notes, shoved under a pile of crap he'd been meaning to toss out for over a year, and went to check his in tray. Nothing exciting there, so he went to check Casey's and was only half surprised to find Babbette sitting there.
He picked her up. "Whatcha doin' little llama?" He paused, frowning a little. "I'm going insane," he added when he realised that he almost expected an answer.
"Danny, are you coming?" someone shouted at him from the newsroom.
Glancing over his shoulder Dan saw Casey glaring at him impatiently. They hadn't yet had a chance to talk, but if Casey was already ragging on him before they'd even begun to clear things up it had to be a good sign.
"Coming," he called, grabbing his notes. "Jeez, keep your shorts on."
"Dana's very hungover today," Casey announced as Dan approached him.
"Is that good or bad?"
"Depends on how much you like Nancy Sinatra."
"What's Nancy Sinatra go to do with--"
And suddenly Dan wasn't thinking about very much at all except how insistent Casey's lips were and the tongue thoroughly exploring his mouth and the gentle hands pulling him closer and closer as Dan kissed Casey back for all he was worth and then some.
Dan could barely remember his own name let alone form a coherent sentence when he was finally released. Did Casey just kiss him in the newsroom? Did that really just happen? And when did everyone start whistling and cheering?
Casey beamed at him, looking smug and rumpled and very happy. "Is that public enough for you?"
"I--err--yeah--" he stammered breathlessly.
Casey's smile just grew bigger as their co-workers continued to clap and cheer.
Dan's notes had gone flying when Casey grabbed him but he still held Babbette in his right hand. Stunned, he stared down at the llama, wondering if what just happened really did happen.
Yep, he decided. It really did.
Slowly, gradually a big smile spread across his face because he's terminally conservative partner had gone out on a limb for him and that was, like, just the best thing ever.
"Danny? You okay?"
He looked up to catch Casey's eye.
"Casey, how many times do I have to tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Dan held up Babbette.
"Not in front of the llamas!"
FIN