Title: A Bad Idea
Author: cinaed
Rating: PG
Prompt: 001. "Beginnings"
Disclaimer: Not mine. Unfortunately.
Pairings: David Hodges/Greg Sanders
Summary: Greg never should have asked him out.
Spoiler: None
A/N: Greg likes to ramble in my head. A lot. And when I say a lot, I mean nonstop. ...but at least it was a happy plotbunny. I like happy plotbunnies. They make me smile.

***

Greg should have known asking David out was a bad idea. After all, for one, it's Hodges, and all Greg knew about David's likes and dislikes of food was that he loathes hotdogs, and that didn't really help in picking out restaurants. Finally, he had knuckled under and gone begging for suggestions from Jacqui, who had told him that David likes seafood.

So now they were at a nice, quiet restaurant that was famous for its seafood, and Greg was trying not to make a fool of himself. So far, he thought he was succeeding. David hadn't commented on his atrocious eating habits, so he knew that he'd remembered to chew with his mouth closed, which was definitely a good thing.

But still, this had been a bad idea. Greg kept floundering for topics, and every time he tripped over a word or came to a rambling halt in mid-sentence, David's smirk grew. The man was obviously just waiting until the end of the date to let loose an arsenal of insults.

David was, after all, being suspiciously quiet as Greg gestured wildly and leaped from one topic to the next, just leaning back in his chair and looking at Greg with steady, unreadable blue eyes. Yes, the other man was just waiting for the opportune moment to insult him and leave, and so Greg kept talking, not wanting to give David a moment of silence with which he could seize that opportune moment and end this sorry excuse for a date.

By the time they finished their deserts, Greg knew he was doomed. David insisted on paying for his half of the meal (although Greg had to tip the waitress on his own), which had to be a bad sign. After all, Greg had asked David out, so it meant Greg should pay for the dinner. Wasn't that some unwritten rule of dating?

He didn't stop talking though, not even as he drove David back to his apartment to drop him off. It was only once he had turned off the engine that Greg fell silent. He'd gotten a full date at least. It was probably more than he ought to have expected.

But instead of insulting him and telling him what a shoddy excuse for a date that had been, David raised an eyebrow and said matter-of-factly, "Nick told me you like Vietnamese, and I just happen to know a good place. Next Friday?"

Greg blinked. "Next Friday?"

David rolled his eyes. "Next Friday," he repeated in a suffering tone that suggested he deserved sainthood for putting up with the other man's slowness. When Greg continued to stare, David sighed. "Vietnamese place. You. Me. Eight o'clock. This time, I drive. Comprende?"

"Oh." Greg blinked rapidly, and then felt himself break into a grin. "Oh, yeah, that sounds good." More sentences wanted to rush from his lips, but he managed to smile brightly enough to bite them back. Now was not the time to ramble. "I guess I'll see you at work then?"

"Unless the world ends," David drawled with a nod, and got out of the car. He paused, a mere slender silhouette against the outside lights of his apartment, and then turned, his shadowed face wearing that familiar smirk. "Oh, and Sanders? Next time, don't try so hard."

"I'll have you know that was pure Sanders skill, with absolutely no effort at all," Greg declared, and saw the initial widening of David's smirk before the other man turned and started up the steps of his apartment.

Greg watched him until the apartment door shut and hid that slender silhouette from view, and then he just sat in his car for a moment, grinning to himself. Okay, so maybe asking David out had been a bad idea.

Then again, maybe it had been his most brilliant idea ever.

***