Title: Just Press Play
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5_prompts, Month of November challenge
Prompt: Day 4 - Dare - Have a character use a line of a song as an answer to someone's question
Author's Note: Just a little one-shot written for a challenge prompt. This is not part of either of the two separate series I'm writing for the Greg/Nick pairing.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Nick Stokes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg looked up as Nick entered the DNA lab with a frown on his face, wondering what the other man was looking so perturbed about. It had to have something to do with the case he was working on; there couldn't be any other reason for that intent look.

He hadn't been able to get to the DNA sample that Nick had given him yet; he was backed up, as usual, but he knew that Nick would understand. After all, he couldn't be expected to have something ready in less than half an hour; all of the CSIs knew that.

He'd been listening to music while he worked; the headphones kept others from being bothered, and no one seemed to mind, as long as he got the work done that they brought him. Besides, listening to music helped him to concentrate. Everyone here knew that, too.

Nick had stopped at Greg's desk; he stood there, leaning forward, his hands planted on the edge of the desk as though he wanted to say something but didn't know quite how to phrase it. Greg waited, brows raised, wondering what Nick was going to tell him.

He wanted to make that frown go away from Nick's face; he wanted the other man to smile, to forget the dark thoughts that were obviously troubling him. Even if it was only for a few minutes, he wanted to make Nick laugh -- if he could think of a way to do it.

"Greg, I know it's too soon to be asking for that DNA report, but I need it," Nick told him, his tone clipped and curt. "If there's any way you could put a rush on that, I'd appreciate it." He sounded preoccupied, as though he wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying.

Greg nodded, tilting his head and regarding Nick with a questioning expression. "Sure. I'll make that the next priority, right after I finish what I'm working on now, if that's okay." He turned away, not waiting for Nick's nod of acquiescence.

"What would you do if you were stuck on something, and no matter which way you turned, you felt like all you were coming up against was dead ends?" The question took Greg by surprise; he hadn't expected Nick to say what was bothering him.

"You go back, Jack, and do it again," Greg told him, almost singing the words instead of speaking them. He almost wanted to laugh at the astonished expression on Nick's face; it was worth playing the fool to see his colleague looking so nonplussed.

"What?" Nick was almost laughing; Greg was sure that if he answered a question with a song lyric just one more time, he could have Nick's smile turning to laughter. That was what he was aiming for; he hated to see someone he cared about looking so solemn and serious.

Of course, they dealt with serious things here in the crime lab every day, a little voice in the back of his mind piped up. But that didn't mean that they had to let the seriousness of the matters they dealt with affect them in a negative way all the time, he argued silently.

"Greg, have you lost your mind?" Nick asked, moving to the high counter in front of Greg's desk and propping his elbows on it as he stared quizzically at the younger man. "I'm serious, man. What would you do? I'm looking for some answers here. Or maybe just an opinion."

"Don't look for answers, you took your chances. Don't ask me why," Greg told him, surprised at himself for quoting a Billy Joel song that his mother had always liked. Why was he coming up with such odd choices for songs, rather than drawing from what he usually listened to?

Maybe it was because Nick listened to far different music than what he himself usually liked, and he was fairly sure that Nick would recognize the song lyrics, he told himself. Was it just his imagination, or could he see a small smile forming on Nick's lips?

He loved to see Nick smile, to hear him laugh. There was something that smile and laughter that was infectious; Greg always wanted to smile along with the older man, to let his own laughter mingle in the air with Nick's whenever it rang out.

In fact, there was something about Nick Stokes that was absolutely irresistible. He'd felt it from the first time they'd met, even though he had never been able to work up the courage to say as much to Nick. But one day, he would. One day, he would make his feelings known.

Until then, he would content himself with just being friends with Nick, and hope that the other man might feel the same way he did. They would keep getting closer -- and maybe, if he was lucky, one day in the not-too-distant future, he might be just as irresistible to Nick.

"You're turning into a regular jukebox, aren't you?" Nick asked with a laugh, shaking his head. "I don't know why you're acting like this, but it's kind of cute. That's one of the things I love about you, Greg. I never know what you're going to do next."

"Don't put another dime in the jukebox, I don't wanna hear that song no more," Greg sang, unable to hold back his own smile. When Nick laughed, he could feel a tingle of sheer joy go through him; he'd achieved his goal. He'd made Nick laugh, taken his mind away from his problems.

"I always liked that song," Nick mused, smiling as he leaned against the counter, a faraway look in his eyes. "It's got some pretty good memories for me. I wouldn't have expected you to know it, though. I think the Eighties were a little before your time."

"I know a lot of Eighties songs, thanks to my parents listening to Top Forty radio when I was a little kid," Greg told him with a laugh. "Just press play, and you never know what you could hear. I might surprise you a lot more than I already have."

"That I can believe," Nick told him, shaking his head and laughing along with the younger man. "You never fail to surprise me almost all the time, Greggo. Like I said, it's one of the things I love about you. But I think I've got to go somewhere else for a straight answer to my question."

Before Greg could say another word, Nick had walked out of the DNA lab, leaving him feeling a little deflated. He didn't doubt that someone else would give the other man an answer to his question -- even though Greg had intended to do so before Nick had left.

But he would have another chance to answer a question that Nick put to him, he was sure. And the next time, he'd answer seriously -- just to keep Nick on his toes. After all, it was always good to keep people guessing, Greg thought, smiling as he went back to his work.

***