Title: A Light Shining
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: Some fears are healthy.

Greg stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he made his way down the hall. The house was silent except for the vague sound of tapping – the computer keyboard, he decided – and he followed the noise until he found Nick in their office. "What are you doing?"

Nick glanced over his shoulder, smirking at Greg's hair before he turned back to the screen. "My sister called, she wants to bring the kids up next month. Didn't you hear the phone?"

"No. I was dead to the world."

"I noticed. You were snoring so loud I thought the neighbors were going to complain." Nick grinned when Greg cuffed him on the shoulder. "Not that I'm complaining. But since I was awake I figured I'd start finding stuff around town my niece and nephew might like."

"What about Cirque du Soleil? Kids love that crap." Greg reached around Nick to steal his cup of coffee, catching Nick's scowl in the process. "What? You got something against stylized, overpriced circus acts?"

"No. It's just…"

"What?" Greg prompted when Nick trailed off, the corners of his mouth twitching as he watched Nick's ears turn red. "Fear of heights? Those acrobats have years of training, you know. They have to go to school and everything, it's not like they're going to fall in the middle of the show. Not unless the cable snaps, and then you'd probably have to investigate anyway."

Nick scowled even harder and turned toward Greg, reaching out to pull his coffee out of the other man's grip. "I'm not afraid of heights. It's the clowns, okay? They freak me out."

"Wait…clowns? You're afraid of clowns?"

"I'm not afraid of them. I just don't like them," Nick answered, setting his coffee down out of Greg's reach. "I just don't trust anybody who disguises themselves and hangs out around kids."

"Okay." And Greg knew he sounded like he was laughing at Nick, but he couldn't help himself. "So I guess Circus Circus is out too?"

"Funny," Nick grumbled, and for a second Greg almost felt guilty.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so sensitive about your coulrophobia."

"My what?"

"Coulrophobia. Fear of clowns," Greg answered. He reached over Nick's other shoulder for his coffee, but this time Nick caught his wrist and turned to face him.

"If you're going to make fun of me you can get your own coffee. And I don't have cool-whatever."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Lots of people have irrational fears."

"Like your irrational fear of feet. What's the clinical term for that one?"

"That's different," Greg said, tugging his wrist out of Nick's grip to thread their fingers together. "I'm not afraid of feet. I just don't want to look at them."

"Yeah, well, that's exactly how I feel about clowns." Nick pulled his hand out of Greg's and stood up, reaching for his coffee before he turned back to the other man. "I'm going to take a shower."

"You want some company?" Greg asked, turning on his most charming grin.

Nick rolled his eyes and for a second Greg thought he was actually mad enough to say no, but a second later he let out a sigh and shook his head. "You sure you can stand it? I'm not planning to wear socks, you know."

And he deserved that, so he just grinned and backed toward the door. "I think I can handle it. Besides, you might need me in there. Never know when the scary clowns are going to show up."