Work Text:
“Seriously, Lupes, you’ve almost got it.” Nick said, leaning forward in his chair. His elbows were on the wooden table, bracing him, as he looked between Cyrus and the flashcards.
“Ugh,” Cyrus let out an annoyed whine, dropping the pen he was fiddling with onto one of his many open textbooks. “What if I just quit while I’m ahead,” he asked rhetorically, rubbing his face to wake himself up a little.
“Well,” Nick said, leaning backwards and tilting the cards face down. “I’m sure Con and Alex would understand.”
“That makes it worse,” Cyrus said, thinking about the understanding faces their girlfriends would make if he did decide to drop.
“Then I guess you better get on with it,” Nick cleared his throat and picked up the cards again. “C’mon, Cy, Rule five point five, multijurisdictional practice of law prohibits a lawyer from…”
“God, you’re making my head hurt,” Cyrus said, letting out a sigh. “Five point five prohibits a lawyer from practicing or establishing an office in a jurisdiction one is not licensed in.”
Nick’s eyes flicker to somewhere behind Cyrus, but the other man was too busy bouncing the end of his pen off his head as he answered to notice. “And the exceptions are…”
“Uh, if one is assisting a local lawyer who is actively working on the case. Pro hac vice cases where one is permitted to work on a case outside of one’s own jurisdiction. If pro hac vice is not required, then the lawyer must be working on alternative dispute resolutions that are reasonably related to one’s practice in one’s own jurisdiction.” He took a breath in, trying to remember the fourth exception.
“Rule five point five has an exception for lawyers that work on matters–” Alex’s voice started from behind him, causing Cyrus to drop his pen in surprise.
“–That work on matters reasonably related to their practice in their admitted jurisdiction,” Cyrus finished, turning around with a fond expression on his face.
“Hello Ladies,” Nick greeted, a teasing glint in his eye.
Both Connie and Alex stood in the doorway separating the living room and the dining room, still wearing their winter getup.
“How long were you two standing there,” Cyrus asked, making to get up from the table and greet them properly.
“Just long enough to hear about this,” Connie said. “You sound good, Cy,” she stepped closer to him and ran a hand through his hair comfortingly. “You know what you’re talking about.”
“I just wish I felt like I did,” his eyes closed at the feeling of her fingers in his hair.
“That feeling goes away,” Alex said, her voice closer than before. “And then you’ll be arguing in chambers with a judge in no time,” she joked, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Nick said from the other side of the table in mock offense at the display in front of him.
“As if you don’t enjoy watching, Nicky,” Alex dismissed his complaints with a knowing smirk. Nonetheless, she walked over to him, setting her bag down on a chair as she passed, and gave him a kiss hello, too.
Connie placed her hands on Cyrus’ shoulders, and he brought his hands up to hold them closer, crossing them in front of his neck. He kissed the backs of both her hands as she asked, “Are you guys done for the night? Alex and I were talking about going out to dinner.”
“That Thai place on 9th?” Nick asked eagerly.
“We have been talking about going there for a while now,” she said with a grin.
“Yeah, we’re done for the night,” Nick said, shoving the flashcards in one of the textbooks and closing it.
“Do I get a say in any of this?” Cyrus asked, amusement at his partners’ behavior clearly evident.
“No,” all three chorused. Connie let go of his hands, and pat him on the shoulders twice, a sign that he should get up.
He let out an exaggerated sigh, and stood up. As he walked over to the couch—where he’d thrown his coat when he and Nick got off work earlier that night—he said, “You’re lucky you guys are cute.”
