Fic: A Souvenir (Numb3rs, Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger, Don Eppes / Martin)
Title: A Souvenir
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Follows:
Old Foes, Chapter 1
Old Foes, Chapter 2
Old Foes, Interlude
Old Foes, Chapter 3
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Bye.” Charlie hung up and sank back onto the couch, leaned against Colby’s chest. “Martin says Hi.”
“When are they coming back?”
“They’re on the evening flight, so they should be in L.A. after ten. I promised we would pick them up from the airport.”
“We? Are you going to take Helen too?”
“No, by we I meant you. Someone’s got to stay and watch the baby.”
“I should have seen that coming…. Anyway, are they having fun?”
“Yeah, he said he had to drag Don away from the SeaWorld.”
“I thought that place was for kids.”
“Hey, I like that place! And those dolphins are really adorable.”
“Okay, I’ll take your word for it.”
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“Okay, we have less than five hours before we need to get going to the airport. What do you want to do?” Martin asked. He had just finished packing his suitcase, and was now shoving the rest of their souvenirs to Don’s bag.
“You know what I want to do.”
“I know, and I’ve told you before, we can’t kidnap a dolphin and smuggle it to L.A.”
“That was definitely not what I meant…..”
“You’ve been suggesting that everyday even since we went to the SeaWorld.”
“They’re really nice!” Don grumped. “And I got to feed them.”
“You and that group of schoolchildren.”
“They said anyone who wants, can try.”
“But I bet non of those kids wanted to play dolphin in the shower the next morning.”
“You were naked and wet.” Don shrugged.
“So you associated me with a wet, five ton marine mammal.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing….”
“Considering the hours I’ve slaved away at the gym to stay in shape, comments like that are pretty bad.” Martin grinned and pulled the side compartment of his bag open again. “And by the way….”
“What?”
“Speaking of souvenirs, I got something for you too.”
“Just don’t tell me you got me thimble, so I could start a collection like your mom…..”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Her tour lasted over an hour!”
“Be glad she gave you a tour, most guests don’t even get to see it. It’s like her seal of approval.”
“We’ve been together for two years, and now she’s giving her blessing? Yippee….”
“She did the same guided tour with Charlie.”
“How long?”
“The tour?”
“How long after you two got together?”
“About a week.” Martin took a small plastic bag and handed it over to Don to divert his thoughts. “Open it.”
Don pulled the bag open and took out a blue stuffed animal.
“You got me a dolphin?”
“That’s as close to the real thing you’re gonna get for some time so make sure you take good care of it. “
“You got me a dolphin.”
“You just said that.”
“You got me a frigging dolphin.”
“Stop repeating that.”
“That’s so sweet in a teenage-girlie way…. What do I call him?”
“Orcha?”
“No, did you see that movie? It was awful. How bout Marty?”
“How do you know it’s a boy?”
“You got a point…. How do you know a dolphins gender?”
“No idea, but the girl in the souvenir shop said that was a girl.”
“How bout…. Dolphie?”
“Dolphie the dolphin. How original….”
“You got a better name for her?”
“No.”
“Then shut up.” Don placed the dolphin on the nightstand and tackled Martin to the mattress. “I wanna thank you properly.”
“What’s the correct thank-you-rate for a stuffed animal?”
“Four and an a half hours in the sack?” Don suggested.
“Hold on to that thought, I got something else for you too.” Martin wriggled up from the bed and pulled something from the pocket of his coat. “Actually I got it when I went to Sweden with my dad for that family reunion.”
“That was months ago.” Don complained.
“I was waiting for a good moment.” Martin handed him a small wooden box. Don opened it and froze completely. The box contained two thick, silver rings.
“You got me a ring?” Don looked like a deer in the headlights.
“Don’t look like that, I’m not going to snatch you to Canada for ceremonies. It’s just a sign of ownership.”
“Ownership?” Don couldn’t help grinning.
“How did you think I would do it? Buy you a cock ring? I want you to wear something people can see.”
“And you don’t want me to drop my pants in the office so people can see?”
“Is that an offer?” Martin smirked. “Okay, I’ll send the rings back and-”
“Don’t you dare.” Don grabbed the box back from him. “What’s with the engravings anyway?”
“They’re Viking rings. A bunch of craftsman do them based on old Viking artefacts.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Try it.”
“Which hand?”
“Left.”
“Good.” Don slipped the other ring to his finger. “That’s good, it shouldn’t effect my gun grip.”
“You really know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?” Martin chuckled. “I’m here being all romantic, getting mushy with my man and you start talking about guns.”
“That’s the fed version of sweet talk.” Don corrected. “But I got a bit of a problem now.”
“What?”
“Now……” Don pulled Martin back to the bed and into a deep kiss. “…. I gotta show my gratitude for both this and the dolphin…..”
“Then you better start trying, we got four hours.”