One Year Older

Prompt #91 - Birthdays

By: Kuroi Neko-kun

Summary: Danny dwells on his upcoming birthday with a pleasant surprise

Pairing: Danny/David

Warning: Slash. Meh.

Disclaimer: CSI or CSI: New York characters are borrowed discreetly. I don’t own them.

Beta: None. Fear the unbetaed fic!

Rating: FRM

A/N: I’m back with a sweet fic for my au100 prompts!! Enjoy!

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Danny had glared at the calendar many times, knowing fully that he couldn’t change the fact that it was the one day of the one month he dreaded the most. No matter just how much he hated the fact that it was coming, it didn’t slow down or stop time whatsoever. In fact, the New Yorker felt that time was being the bitch that she is and is moving faster just to mess with his head. He let out a heavy sigh before crashing into the not-so-comfortable chair of the break room, shaking his head. He wished he was busy but even the second best crime lab in the country had slow nights and that left him with little to do but what for the lab rats to churn his results before he could do what he did best. He placed his head on the table, looking like a bored puppy.

And that caught the attention of one particular lab rat that always had his interest for awhile now. And even with his presence couldn’t get Danny out of his new funk.

“Every other CSI is working their ass off on their cases and here I find you being useless,” David said as he passed the blonde CSI to the refrigerator. The trace tech expected a retort but when he only got static, he turned to Danny who hadn’t even moved from his position. David found it odd since Danny seemed always alert when the snarky lab rat was around.

David inwardly sighed. He knew things were different when it came to Danny. When the New Yorker first came, David was pulled into his presence like a moth to light. He tried to push his thoughts and feelings away but Danny was a force to be reckoned with. Despite what Jacqui, Archie, Bobby, Ronnie and Greg were telling him, he simply refused to believe that Danny Messer had a crush on him. He could barely believe that Danny registered his existence, much less like him. But so far, Danny had asked him out three times, bought him little gifts in attempt to woo him and had spent an entire day with all the lab rats (sans Ronnie who had an actual family to spend time with) watching Lord of The Rings the extended version for twelve hours straight. However, Danny was a lot younger than David. He was afraid that the New Yorker only saw him as a fling.

The trace tech shook his head before heading over to the object of his desires and sat in front of him.

“Now since you insist looking like a bummed mutt during my break time, I’ll indulge you by asking you what is making you like this,” David said. Hey, he still cared. Nothing was said about being tactful.

Danny sat up, smiling slightly before shrugging. “It’s nothing Dave...”

“‘Nothing’ won’t make the usually perky you so bummed out.”

“You really want to know?” Danny asked.

“That’s why I decided to divulge a little of my break time paying particular attention to you, Messer,” David retorted.

“It would mean that you do care about me.”

“Are you going to tell me or not?”

Danny could tell that he was tethering on David’s patience. “Well, my birthday’s coming up.”

Staring at the trace tech, he was expecting some sort of remark from him but all David said was, “go on.”

“I just don’t like it. I get depressed. I’m getting older. And well, I don’t really have good childhood memories about birthdays,” Danny said. He waited a few more seconds for something out of David.

In a surprising response, David touched his hand. “Look, you just turn a year older, a year wiser and well, it doesn’t mean anything really. Stop thinking about it too much.”

“I know that but I can’t help it,” he whispered. Danny can’t believe that his voice was beginning to crack. His defences were breaking down in front of David. He felt the hand on his squeezing his in comfort. Somehow, it was helping.

At that moment, Jacqui just had to walk into the break room causing David to jerk his hand away so fast that even Danny wasn’t prepared for it. The print expert pretended not to notice but as she handed Danny’s results to him, David spotted the smirk she was trying to hide.

-

Somehow, spending that few precious minutes with David helped. His spirits was lifted. Maybe it was the fact that David talked to him normally. Or that David wasn’t hesitant about holding his hand. Or that David, despite the snarkiness and blatant rudeness, actually cared about him. He remembered when he was back in New York it took Flack nearly three weeks before getting him back to his jolly self. Then again, Danny was still wallowing about his loneliness, his lack of sex and the man he was falling for desperately was in love with a woman. That was why when the New York detective called to check on him, he was shocked that Danny was spilling out every intricate detail (all the way to the elated feeling of David’s hand on his) of what happened in the break room like a high school girl who just bumped into her crush. By the time they said their goodbyes, he was fairly certain that Flack was scratching his head and probably wondering if the Nevada desert heat was already getting to him.

-

He came out of the crime lab’s front door, needing a breather. Grissom had assigned him to the dumpster on the case they were working on. With his nose being overwhelmed by smells he knew he should have gotten used to by now, he had to get some fresh air. Danny took off his glasses as he leaned against the wall, massaging the bridge of his nose. At that moment, the door opened and David stood at the doorway, looking slightly pleased to find him.

“Hey Dave,” Danny mumbled and waiting for a smart retort. When none came, he turned to look at the trace expert. At that moment, his lips met unexpectedly with David’s. He froze for a moment before snaking his arm around David’s waist. Slowly, David broke the kiss before giving him one of his rare genuine smiles.

Slightly dazed, Danny could only say, “wow.”

“I have that effect on people,” David said, rolling his eyes.

Danny straightened up before asking, “What was that about?”

“I was wondering what to give you on the day you turn a year older. Jacqui said you’d probably wanted to share my germs through invading your private space—“David was cut off when Danny kissed him again. When they broke apart, Danny smirked.

“Next time, maybe just a happy birthday would suffice,” said the New Yorker, grinning now.

He appreciated what David was trying to do. The trace tech was making an effort to give him a happy memory. He didn’t had the heart to tell him that he barely even registered that it was his birthday. It didn’t matter anyway. David just made him feel great about turning one year older.

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End

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