Title: Untitled Ficlet
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Series: Banana Pancakes, Better Together, Wasting Time, Inaudible Melodies, What You Would Need, Someday at Chirstmas, (Don't Let Your) Dreams Be Dreams, Untitled, Untitled Brass-Centric Ficlet, Fortunate Fool
Summary: Pancake series futurefic.

If there’s one thing Greg’s never really been, it’s proud. At least not when it comes to someone knowing just how much he wants them. So he doesn’t care that Nick knows he’s been staring, doesn’t care that he ducks his head and grins that little grin that makes Greg crazy every time he catches Greg looking.

In fact, it’s even better that Nick knows what’s on Greg’s mind, because it means they’ll get to skip all the preamble later and get right down to business. Not that he minds a little teasing now and then, but Nick’s been wearing that shirt all night, and that’s just about all the anticipation Greg can handle.

He knows exactly what that shirt does to Greg. Well, anything with short sleeves has this affect, really, because it’s one thing to know from experience just how strong Nick is, but when he can see it on display right in the middle of the work day with all kinds of other people around…well, that does something to Greg. Something he wouldn’t have thought was technically possible until he met Nick, but one look should be enough to explain to anyone just how Greg developed such a fetish for Nick’s arms.

“You okay?” Nick asks, and he can hear the smirk without looking.

“Me? I’m great,” Greg answers, letting his gaze linger on the muscles flexing under the hem of Nick’s sleeve. “Never better.”

“Never?” Nick asks, and when Greg finally does look up at Nick’s face he’s still grinning, but his head’s tilted a little to the side like he’s considering Greg’s answer. “Guess I’m doing something wrong.”

This time Greg smirks, gaze wandering back down Nick’s arms, and if he focuses hard enough he can feel them wrapped around him. He can think of a dozen different ways Nick’s done everything right just off the top of his head, starting with his arms and ending…well, pretty much everywhere else.

It’s been a long couple years; they’ve lost most of their team, added a couple new people who are still trying to find their groove. There were some rough spots between him and Nick too, starting with Nick almost getting himself killed more than once, and ending with Greg being dumb enough not to realize Nick needed to hear that a movie deal wasn’t going to break them up.

But all that’s behind them, and now that he stops to think about it, this really is the happiest he’s ever been. His heart skips a beat and he smiles again, glancing around to make sure none of the cops milling around the scene are looking before he leans in close. “Trust me, you do just fine. But I’ll let you practice some more after shift, if you want.”

That gets him another grin, the slow, sort of shy one that makes the edges of Nick’s eyes crinkle. “You’re on,” Nick answers, his right bicep flexing just a little and Greg has to swallow hard against a groan.

They’ve still got a few hours to go and it might kill him to wait, but he knows from experience that it’s worth it.