Title: Preferred Mode of Seduction
By: geekwriter
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: Ficlet for Stephiepenguin. Every relationship has its firsts.

"Just give it a chance," Greg said as he flipped through his CD case.

"I know what I like, G."

"And I'm not saying that's bad, I'm just saying you need to expand your musical repertoire."

Nick raised one eyebrow. "My musical repertoire."

"You can't just listen to one genre. Honestly, I think your whole revolving-door problem might be a result of your slavish attention to nothing but country."

"I have a revolving door problem?"

"The ladies, Nick. They're probably running faster than you can push them because, really, Toby Keith is not romantic."

"I didn't think you'd even know who Toby Keith was."

"Well, I wouldn't if I had any control over it," Greg said. "Here we go."

"As much as I appreciate you trying to help me with my relationships, which, by the way, need no help whatsoever, the game's gonna be back on in, like, two minutes."

"Baseball comes and goes," Greg said, "Manson is forever."

"Charles Manson?"

Greg laughed. "No. Marilyn."

"Oh. She cute?"

Greg gaped at him, and this time Nick laughed.

"It was a joke, Greg. I do know that Marilyn Manson's a man. Sort of."

"I'll ignore that comment," Greg said, pressing play his stereo.

"This is your version of romantic?" Nick asked after listening for a moment to the grind of electric guitars over an erratic beat.

"Oh, well, no. I kind of got distracted. I mean, it's not the type of thing I'd play during the act or anything, but it is a good starter, now that you mention it."

"A good what?"

"You know, to get the party started," Greg grinned at him, raising his eyebrows twice. "Get the blood pumping. Dance a little bit, have a few shots..."

"What happened long conversations and drinking wine by candlelight?" Nick asked.

Greg frowned. "Well, if that's your preferred mode of seduction..." He flipped through his CD case again.

"What's wrong with that?" Nick asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"I mean it. That's classic."

"That's boring," Greg mouthed so Nick couldn't hear him. "Game's on," he said.

"I'm TiVo-ing it at home. Tell me what's wrong with wine and candlelight."

"Nothing," Greg said. "I mean, I'm down with candlelight. I'm down with wine."

"Then what aren't you...down with?"

"It's like buying a girl red roses for Valentine's Day," Greg said. "It's generic. You don't even have to put any thought into it. It's just what's expected even if she's not a roses kind of girl."

"So you don't buy your girlfriend red roses on Valentine's Day? Man, that's cheap."

"It's not cheap, it's thoughtful. I mean, if red roses are her favorite flower then of course you should get her red roses. But if she prefers lilies or daisies or daffodils, well, I think it's more romantic to know what somebody likes and then do that for them than to just take the easy way out."

"So candlelight and wine is the easy way out?"

"It is if she's a strobe light and whisky kind of girl."

"I don't date strobe light and whisky kinds of girls."

"How do you know?"

Nick sighed, exasperated. "I think I know the people I date."

"OK, let me put it this way--if I were taking you out, I wouldn't serve you wine by candlelight."

"Why would you be taking me out?"

"It's a hypothetical situation, Nick, the whys don't matter. If I were trying to seduce you, I'd skip the wine and heart to heart chat and instead we'd drink beer and play video games because those are things you like."

"Well, yeah, but..." Nick looked down the beer in his hand, then looked over his shoulder at Greg's PlayStation. "Uh...Greg?"

Greg flipped through his CD case frantically. "Hypothetical, Nick," he said.

Nick reached out and touched Greg's chin, tilted his face up. "Greg, are you trying to...seduce me?"

Greg smiled nervously at him. "Depends. Is it working?"

Nick licked his lips and leaned forward to press his mouth over Greg's. Greg's lips were soft and he tasted like a combination of coffee and beer. "It's working," he whispered. Then he reached up to turn off the stereo. "Everything except the music."