Title: drabbles
Author: James
Pairing: various, see prompts
Rating: PG
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit made
Notes: just a couple quickies from prompts




For stasha2g, Nate/Sterling UST. Pre-series one-upmanship.



Nate didn't flinch when Sterling slid up beside him. It had been too much to hope, he told himself, that the other agent would have already gone. Nate just wanted to get packed up and to the airport -- his flight back home to Maggie and Sam pushing away any lingering thoughts about the case they'd just closed.

He missed working with Maggie, but with a three month old at home it wasn't like they could work overseas anymore.

A thought flashed of them taking Sam with them, and he laughed.

Beside him, Sterling smiled, clearly thinking Nate's thoughts were on him, on their work together. "I told you, we should request they assign us to be partners," Sterling continued, leaning forward, almost brushing up against Nate's shoulder.

No one but Maggie had ever been that close to him, spoken to him in quite that tone of voice. Nate shivered and told himself he ought to shove the other man away.

He ignored that voice which said it had been something, working with the other man. The job had gone just as smoothly as so many others working with Maggie, but there had been a world of difference as well.

"Think of it, Nate," Sterling practically whispered in his ear, repeating the action he'd managed so many times over the course of the last seven days. So many opportunities Sterling had taken -- or created -- to lean in close, to touch, to whisper.

Nate knew perfectly well what Sterling was offering. He'd made it clear, over and over, and Nate cursed the job that had required him to keep up the facade and not shove the man away the first time.

He looked at Sterling, keeping his gaze steady, and said, "I'm with Maggie."

Sterling half-smiled, not looking at all like Nate had actually said no. He nodded, as if accepting a challenge. "Of course, Nate. And you should run along home to her." There was a pause, then as Sterling stepped away, a touch ghosted across Nate's arm.

He shivered. Gripping the handle of his bag tightly, he thought of Maggie, and the baby, and the future he had planned for them both.

Nothing was going to change that, he told himself. Certainly not a man like Sterling.

~~~


For v_angelique, Eliot/Anyone-except-Nate, cooking. Or if you want something more specific, "stay out of my motherfucking kitchen."



"He's grumpy," Parker said, sitting on the kitchen counter, banging her heels against the cupboard door.

"I am not grumpy," Eliot growled, yanking the tomato out of her hands and putting it back on the cutting board.

"Wow, he is grumpy," Hardison agreed. Eliot shot him a glare -- the one usually reserved for assholes who were about to get themselves killed in painful and messy ways. Hardison crossed over from the doorway, right over to where Eliot stood, and reached past him for the cupboard above him.

"I am trying to work," Eliot said, aiming the tip of the knife at Hardison.

Hardison shrugged. "So work, man. I just want some gummy worms."

Shifting the grip on his knife from 'poke your eyes out' to 'slice your throat in point three seconds, Eliot didn't move away from the stash of the most disgusting form of not-food known to mankind.

"Here," Parker said, handing over a bag. Eliot blinked, wondering how he'd missed her reaching past him, then remembered there was another stash of candy on the drawer opposite where she'd been sitting.

Eliot growled again. "Out."

Hardison looked at him, then said to Parker, "He really is grumpy. Did he miss his coffee this morning or something?"

"He got laid, so we know it isn't that," Parker replied, easily.

Eliot growled again, then set down the knife and grabbed them each by one arm. Yanking, and puling, he got them aimed towards the doorway and almost two steps away from it before Parker jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. She grinned brightly at him when he glared at her.

"How is that going to stop me from carrying you out of my kitchen?" He demonstrated by easily walking to the doorway, still dragging Hardison behind him. At the threshold he stopped, and tried to figure the best way to dislodge her without losing Hardison or pissing Parker off by letting her land on her ass.

He heard Hardison chuckle. Eliot yanked him forward, pushing him out of the kitchen. With both hands free, Eliot tried to untangle Parker from his waist. She helped by letting go, then scampering around his body until she was clinging to his back.

"Damn, girl's like a spider monkey," Hardison said, sounding impressed. And not at all sorry about the interference with Eliot's cooking.

Parker just giggled, her mouth right behind Eliot's left ear.

Eliot started to tell them once again to stay out of his fucking kitchen, then stopped. With a wave of one hand, he walked away from the kitchen, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the fact Parker was still on his back. "Fine," he said. "You two order Chinese or whatever and you can tell Nate and Sophie what happened to her surprise dinner."

He grabbed a magazine, noticing how well Parker shifted her weight to keep them from falling over, then he let himself fall backwards onto the couch. Parker moved up, legs still around him but now she was sitting on the back of the couch. Eliot flipped open the magazine.

Three, four, five....

"If we apologise and promise never ever to do it again--" Hardison stopped at a hiss from Parker, then he continued, "This week, will you please finish making dinner so Sophie doesn't kill us?"

Eliot kept flipping through the magazine. Luckily it was one of his and not Hardison's gaming mags else the pretense wouldn't have lasted thirty seconds.

There was a tongue on his ear, then a bite. He glanced up at Parker, who looked at him with a pleading expression. Just when he was about to give in and agree to finish cooking, she asked, "Can I have a tomato?"