Detente by quiesce, Dan & Dana (C/Lisa, C/Dana, C/Pixley, C/Dan), rated: G
Title: Detente
Author: quiesce
Author's website: fic index post
Pairing: Dan & Dana (implied Casey/Lisa, Casey/Dana, Casey/Pixley, Casey/Dan)
Rating: G
Category: gen, het UST, slash UST
Summary: Dan and Dana have an understanding.
A/N: Many thanks to phoebesmum for betaing.
Dana's buzzing and giddy and sweaty and she half-stumbles back into the booth, bumping into Dan. He laughs and hands her back her drink.
"Ok, who's gonna dance with me now?" Lisa asks.
"I thought that was Dana's job."
"My feet are killing me," Dana groans. "I need to sit down for a few minutes."
"Casey? Dan?" Lisa looks at them in turn. They each point at the other. Lisa rolls her eyes and tugs at Casey's arm until he grudgingly rises.
"You gotta come too, Dan. Don't make me go out there alone."
"Nah, I'll stay here and keep Dana company." Dan waves Casey off with an evil grin. "You have fun though."
"You are dead to me," Casey vows over his shoulder as he's pulled away.
Dana and Dan sit in easy silence, tracking their friends as they move around on the dance floor. Lisa's not much of a party girl in the going wild sense, but she's never one to turn down an opportunity to dance and she sways to the music, uninhibited. Casey, in comedic contrast, jerks around looking awkward and embarrassed. He manages to find the beat on occasion, but can't hold on to it for more than a few seconds at a time. How someone can be so lithe playing racquet ball but be so graceless when dancing has always been beyond Dana.
She muses out loud, "He's kind of really bad at it, isn't he?"
"He really is," Dan agrees.
Dana lets out a quiet sigh, both content and wistful.
Beside her, Dan does the same.
They freeze, then turn to face one another, guarded and questioning.
"Huh."
"Yeah."
More silence follows, now somewhat less comfortable.
"Another drink?" Dan offers, breaking the moment.
Dana nods and she watches Dan as he heads to the bar. She figures she should be surprised by this realization, but she discovers that the real surprise is how unfazed she is by it, even though it never would have occurred to her only a few minutes earlier.
Dan returns and they exchange shy smiles. Then they start talking about the upcoming football draft and the moment passes without ever being completely acknowledged. There's no point to it, really. Casey's happily married and what's the use of fighting over something that neither of them will ever have?
Casey and Lisa slide back into the booth during a discussion of which team is in most dire need of an offensive guard and Casey jumps in with his opinion.
"Always sports. Why does it always have to be sports?" Lisa asks, knowing that no one's listening to her.
****
Casey's announcement comes as a surprise. Not that they hadn't both been painfully aware of how bad his marriage had become, but they'd figured he'd bullheadedly stick with it instead of admit it had been a failure.
"So where does this leave us?" Dan asks one night when they're the last two left at Anthony's.
An innocent question, but Dana catches its meaning.
"He's our friend. He's our friend and he's hurting. And I don't think he's looking for anyone else."
Dan nods and looks chastened for broaching the subject.
"But when the time comes," Dana continues, knowing that Dan is right and they'll have to address it at some point. "If it really comes down to it, I want him to be happy. No matter who it's with."
"Agreed."
"You're a good guy, Dan. You're one of my best friends and I love you."
"Ignoring the fact that I need to get you drunk to tell me so, thanks." Dan grins. "You're not so bad yourself."
****
By way of trying to move on, Dana wins.
For all his flaws, Dana had thought Gordon might be the one. Turns out the only good that came out of that relationship was that it forced Casey to realize how he felt about her.
A couple of days after she and Casey share their first kiss, Dan stops by her office.
"Casey's been practically bouncing off the walls with joy. You're sure doing something right." Dan has a huge grin on his face and Dana knows that while this isn't his first choice for the way things panned out, it's his second.
"Thank you."
"Goodnight." He turns to head out.
"Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"Really. Thank you."
Dan smiles and leaves before she can say anything else.
****
When Casey's out on his second date with Pixley, Dan comes by Dana's office again.
She's tired and frustrated and she knows the dating plan has veered wildly off the course she expected it to take, she just can't figure out how. She's not in the mood to talk about Isaac or baseball or anything for that matter, but Dan's intent on making his point.
And he's right.
After he leaves, Dana rushes over to Anthony's in case it isn't too late.
But it is.
****
A year passes.
"Would you just get on with it already?" Dana pushes. Since accepting the fact that she had her shot at Casey and she blew it, she's wholeheartedly taken up the role of Dan's cheerleader.
"I will." "When the time is right." "I'm getting to it." "You'll be the first to know."
Dan has an excuse every time, but Dana refuses to give up on him.
****
Three weeks after the last time she asks Dan about it, Casey comes into work in a giddily cheerful mood but won't tell anyone why.
"Can't a man be happy without needing a reason for it?" he asks when Natalie tries to corner him into explaining himself during the noon rundown meeting.
Dana notices Dan trying to catch her eye and when she looks up, he winks at her. She scans the room and sees that with everyone focusing on teasing Casey, no one's paying any attention to her or Dan. She winks back at him and they share a private smile before she calls the room back to order to discuss the segments for the night's show.
Author: quiesce
Author's website: fic index post
Pairing: Dan & Dana (implied Casey/Lisa, Casey/Dana, Casey/Pixley, Casey/Dan)
Rating: G
Category: gen, het UST, slash UST
Summary: Dan and Dana have an understanding.
A/N: Many thanks to phoebesmum for betaing.
Dana's buzzing and giddy and sweaty and she half-stumbles back into the booth, bumping into Dan. He laughs and hands her back her drink.
"Ok, who's gonna dance with me now?" Lisa asks.
"I thought that was Dana's job."
"My feet are killing me," Dana groans. "I need to sit down for a few minutes."
"Casey? Dan?" Lisa looks at them in turn. They each point at the other. Lisa rolls her eyes and tugs at Casey's arm until he grudgingly rises.
"You gotta come too, Dan. Don't make me go out there alone."
"Nah, I'll stay here and keep Dana company." Dan waves Casey off with an evil grin. "You have fun though."
"You are dead to me," Casey vows over his shoulder as he's pulled away.
Dana and Dan sit in easy silence, tracking their friends as they move around on the dance floor. Lisa's not much of a party girl in the going wild sense, but she's never one to turn down an opportunity to dance and she sways to the music, uninhibited. Casey, in comedic contrast, jerks around looking awkward and embarrassed. He manages to find the beat on occasion, but can't hold on to it for more than a few seconds at a time. How someone can be so lithe playing racquet ball but be so graceless when dancing has always been beyond Dana.
She muses out loud, "He's kind of really bad at it, isn't he?"
"He really is," Dan agrees.
Dana lets out a quiet sigh, both content and wistful.
Beside her, Dan does the same.
They freeze, then turn to face one another, guarded and questioning.
"Huh."
"Yeah."
More silence follows, now somewhat less comfortable.
"Another drink?" Dan offers, breaking the moment.
Dana nods and she watches Dan as he heads to the bar. She figures she should be surprised by this realization, but she discovers that the real surprise is how unfazed she is by it, even though it never would have occurred to her only a few minutes earlier.
Dan returns and they exchange shy smiles. Then they start talking about the upcoming football draft and the moment passes without ever being completely acknowledged. There's no point to it, really. Casey's happily married and what's the use of fighting over something that neither of them will ever have?
Casey and Lisa slide back into the booth during a discussion of which team is in most dire need of an offensive guard and Casey jumps in with his opinion.
"Always sports. Why does it always have to be sports?" Lisa asks, knowing that no one's listening to her.
****
Casey's announcement comes as a surprise. Not that they hadn't both been painfully aware of how bad his marriage had become, but they'd figured he'd bullheadedly stick with it instead of admit it had been a failure.
"So where does this leave us?" Dan asks one night when they're the last two left at Anthony's.
An innocent question, but Dana catches its meaning.
"He's our friend. He's our friend and he's hurting. And I don't think he's looking for anyone else."
Dan nods and looks chastened for broaching the subject.
"But when the time comes," Dana continues, knowing that Dan is right and they'll have to address it at some point. "If it really comes down to it, I want him to be happy. No matter who it's with."
"Agreed."
"You're a good guy, Dan. You're one of my best friends and I love you."
"Ignoring the fact that I need to get you drunk to tell me so, thanks." Dan grins. "You're not so bad yourself."
****
By way of trying to move on, Dana wins.
For all his flaws, Dana had thought Gordon might be the one. Turns out the only good that came out of that relationship was that it forced Casey to realize how he felt about her.
A couple of days after she and Casey share their first kiss, Dan stops by her office.
"Casey's been practically bouncing off the walls with joy. You're sure doing something right." Dan has a huge grin on his face and Dana knows that while this isn't his first choice for the way things panned out, it's his second.
"Thank you."
"Goodnight." He turns to head out.
"Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"Really. Thank you."
Dan smiles and leaves before she can say anything else.
****
When Casey's out on his second date with Pixley, Dan comes by Dana's office again.
She's tired and frustrated and she knows the dating plan has veered wildly off the course she expected it to take, she just can't figure out how. She's not in the mood to talk about Isaac or baseball or anything for that matter, but Dan's intent on making his point.
And he's right.
After he leaves, Dana rushes over to Anthony's in case it isn't too late.
But it is.
****
A year passes.
"Would you just get on with it already?" Dana pushes. Since accepting the fact that she had her shot at Casey and she blew it, she's wholeheartedly taken up the role of Dan's cheerleader.
"I will." "When the time is right." "I'm getting to it." "You'll be the first to know."
Dan has an excuse every time, but Dana refuses to give up on him.
****
Three weeks after the last time she asks Dan about it, Casey comes into work in a giddily cheerful mood but won't tell anyone why.
"Can't a man be happy without needing a reason for it?" he asks when Natalie tries to corner him into explaining himself during the noon rundown meeting.
Dana notices Dan trying to catch her eye and when she looks up, he winks at her. She scans the room and sees that with everyone focusing on teasing Casey, no one's paying any attention to her or Dan. She winks back at him and they share a private smile before she calls the room back to order to discuss the segments for the night's show.