Title: Harmless
By: kennedy
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: Ficlet, post-ep, Spellbound. Greg talks to Nick about the case he is working on.

***

Greg had been grumpy ever since he had arrived home and kicked his shoes into the corner by the front door. Nick had been half-asleep on the couch, his attention hardly on the documentary he had Tivo-d the night before.

"Hey, babe." he drawled, and then caught the expression on his partner's face. "Whoa, why so grouchy?"

Greg shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the hook which held their keys. "Do I look harmless to you?"

Nick's brow furrowed. "You don't exactly look scary, no. But then, neither do I."

"I don't mean, as in scary." Greg padded across the living room floor to join him on the couch.

"What do you mean, then?" Nick held out his arms to invite him in for a snuggle, which Greg looked like he was going to refuse for a moment but then acquiesced.

"But you look like a man."

"Uh, because I am one? And so are you." Nick shook his head slightly, wondering why the strangeness of being with Greg involved conversations that made no sense.

"No, I look like a kid. A harmless one, apparently. I hate that word. She didn't say it about Warrick, and he looked like he was trying not to laugh at me."

"Who said it?"

"Someone we had to interview for this case. A stripper. She probably would have liked you."

Nick ignored the barb, which he knew didn't mean anything, and counted to three before talking again. "She probably meant it as a compliment."

"Some compliment."

"Think about the guys she deals with every day. Clamouring over her, yelling, hooting, and maybe even trying to roughhouse a little bit. Then there's someone like you, talks decently, is friendly, a little kooky. She doesn't see you as a threat. And that's probably the kind of guy she would like above all others."

Greg sighed contentedly and nestled against him. "See, I knew you would make me feel better."

"I can't believe you just had me inflating your ego over why a woman would like you. You're twisted, Sanders."

"Sorry. I felt like my masculinity was being questioned."

Nick snorted. "You've never worried about that before, with your open flirting policy in the lab on anything that crossed your path."

Greg suddenly smacked his forehead with his palm. "Damn!"

"What?"

"I think I've got a date with Wendy on Thursday. I only just realised that now."

He suddenly fell to the ground with an ass-hurting thud. He looked up to see Nick staring down at him, his mouth grim but his eyes dancing with amusement. "Now, why the hell would anybody ever think you were harmless?"

Greg tried to hold onto his scowl, but had to let it go as Nick pulled him back onto the couch and into his arms.

***