Title: Halcyon Days
Author: podga
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: CSI and its characters do not belong to me. I write and post for fun only.
Summary: Gil and Nick trade knowledge.

“Do you know what ‘jumping the shark’ means?”

“What?”

“‘Jumping the shark.’ What does it mean?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Brass said it. When we were investigating Natasha Steele’s death.”

“Brass said it? Huh. Who’d a thunk.”

“Why? What does it mean?”

“How much do you wanna know?”

“You don’t know either, do you?”

“Oh, I know. I’m just surprised you don’t. I guess Brass is more up to date than you are. Pretty sad, Gil. I mean, you guys are the same age and everything, and Brass knows.”

“We’re not the same age.”

“He’s younger? That explains it, then.”

“He’s not younger.”

“Aww, I didn’t hurt your feelings there, did I?”

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“As I said: What’s it worth to you?”

“I don’t know its worth if I don’t know what it means.”

“Let’s see now. The Bundt case was what? Two weeks ago? You haven’t figured it out in the meantime and you’re asking me now, so not knowing must be eating at you. Satisfying your curiosity? That’s gotta be worth something.”

“If it was eating at me, I’d have looked it up before now. I’m just making pillow talk.”

“Pillow talk?”

“Pillow talk.”

“You’re so full of it.”

“So are you. There’s no way you wouldn’t have told me by now if you knew.”

“I do know.”

“Prove it.”

“We still haven’t agreed on a price.”

“And we won’t, as long as I don’t know if you’ve really got the goods.”

“Okay. It’s a reference to an old TV show.”

“Go on.”

“Nope, that’s all you’re gonna get for free.”

“Brass started saying something about the Fonz, but we got interrupted. Happy Days?”

“Yep. So now that you know I’ve got the goods, what are you offering for them?”

“I don’t think I should have to offer anything. I’ve always shared my knowledge with you for free.”

“Right. Like string theory. Now there’s something that comes up in everyday conversation. Really useful.”

“I’ll bet you it’s more useful than knowing what ‘jumping the shark’ means.”

“I’m not betting with you, man. You probably won’t pay up. Besides, I’m on to you now. The bet is just a sneaky way to get me to divulge the information for free. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one by me.”

“Speaking of getting up, you want some water? All this talking has made me thirsty.”

“You’re going to check on the Internet, aren’t you?”

“No. I’m just going to go get a glass of water. And I’m willing to bring you one, too. For free.”

“OK. I’m going to time you though.”

“You’re going to time me?”

“Yep.”

“Maybe I need to take a piss as well.”

“And while you’re up, maybe check your e-mails?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re pathetic. Why don’t you just make me an offer?”

“OK. Ten bucks.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Twenty?”

“Nope.”

“I’m not going over twenty.”

“Maybe you could pay me in trade. Won’t cost you a penny.”

“OK. I’ll trade you with the meaning of the expression ‘halcyon days.’”

“Carefree days. You gotta do better than that.”

“But do you know the origin?”

“Shakespeare.”

“Okay. But where did he get it from?”

“…”

“It’s a beautiful story.”

“Fine. A few years into the series, Happy Days was getting tired and becoming less popular and they were trying to pump up the ratings. So in one episode, they had the Fonz water-skiing in his leather jacket, and he jumped over a shark. I guess the loyal viewers felt that was the turning-point of the show, that it betrayed the original premise, what had made it so great in the first place, in a cheap attempt to attract new viewers, and it was all downhill after that.”

“And this is more interesting than string theory?”

“Well, I can work it into more conversations around the water cooler. Now you.”

“According to Greek mythology, Halcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, god of the winds. There are a number of versions as to why, but the gods punished her by transforming her into a bird, a kingfisher, and condemning her to lay her eggs near the sea, in the middle of winter. The rough seas would ruin her nest and the eggs would never hatch and Halcyone grieved endlessly and begged the gods to take pity on her. Finally Zeus did, but he couldn’t change the fate the other gods had decreed for her. Instead, every year, in late January or early February, he turns winter into summer for fourteen days, so that Halcyone’s children might survive. And then the winter returns.”

“Kingfishers live about two years.”

“Do they?”

“Yeah. So two weeks… that’s a long time, relatively speaking.”

“I guess it is.”

“And even though the winter comes again, Halcyone is no longer alone.”

Gil remains silent for a few seconds, then reaches over and runs his fingers lightly through Nick’s hair. “No, she’s not,” he agrees quietly. “She has what she needs.”

The habits of a lifetime stop him from adding “and so do I.” But he thinks that Nick understands.