Multifandom Imagines (and a Headcanon set here and there)

GSR and Social Distancing

(A/N:  Fics inspired by- by that XD XD XD I wrote all three.  So a line between each segment indicates that you're gonna read a different story.  They're all short and light, meant for comic relief. Tw Covid and almost-World War 3. And, idk if anyone needs a warning for this, but Gil eats his chocolate grasshoppers.  And he offers them to Nick, who accepts.)

The people in the crime laboratory, like any other people in public environments, had to follow the rule of standing six feet apart from each other.

This however did not stop Gil and Sara from standing ridiculously close to each other.  They had always done it, and they were going to continue doing it.

Much to the chagrin of a frustrated undersheriff trying to keep the lab running.  There was once when he was in Gil's office, getting updates on a case.  He was sitting on the couch, while the scientists were standing in front of Gil's desk, their arms pressed together so much that they were almost clutching each other's.  He had been holding himself back from calling them out, but at one point his speech broke its flow, "And that's what- look.  You know the rules," he motioned at them, "If you're not six feet apart, I'm gonna ban you from being in the lab."

They reluctantly shuffled their feet to move sideways, away from each other.

—————

The world went from being on the brink of World War 3 to battling with the Coronavirus. Most people did their part to curb the spread of the virus.

This majority of people included Gil and Sara, who were used to standing unthinkably close to each other; they stood six feet apart like they were supposed to.

While this change in their behaviour was for the benefit of those around them, it was quite a dramatic change.  None of them were used to this distance between them.

There soon came a time when Gil assigned Sara and Nick to the same crime scene. It was a small flat unit. Which made it very easy for Nick to confront Sara. "Sara?" he called out from the bedroom, trying to make sure he heard her above the nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah?" Her voice came from the bathroom.

He walked stiffly towards her.  "I wanted to ask you something," he mumbled, fidgeting with his camera in his hands.

Sara raised an eyebrow and looked down at the device.  "You wanna put that down before you drop it?"

"Um-" he glanced down at his own hands, "yeah, yeah."  He took the strap off his shoulder, then carefully lay the camera across Sara's kit. He straightened up again and tried to maintain wye contact with her. "I...I was wondering about what happened between you and Grissom." His voice was barely audible.

"What happened between Grissom and I?" Sara repeated in a much more confident and genuinely confused tone, frowning in confusion as well.

"We've all noticed..." he stopped to glanced down at the floor and back up before saying, "we've all noticed that the two of you weren't as close as you usually are- n-not to make a pun of it!"  At the last part, he shot a hand out towards her.

"...what?..."

Nick's face fell even further.  "Never mind."  He turned and scurried out of there.

Sara quickly picked up his camera and called out, "Nick!"

He whipped around to face her.  "Oh!  Oh.  Yeah, thanks."  He hurried to take his camera and ran away again.  Sara was left staring in confusion at his back.  She shook her head and blinked herself out of it.  She pushed whatever questions she had to the back of her mind so that she could get on with her job.

Nick did the same; he was a good CSI.  But, being a good investigator meant that he still wanted to find out.  So it was that when he was done for the day, he prepared to speak to Grissom.  He did not know why he was doing this; if he was not able to communicate with Sara, there was no reason to think that he would successful with Grissom of all people.  It did not make sense.  Anyhow, it was too late to turn back.  Because he was standing in the doorway to the locker room, staring at the lab supervisor.  "What is it, Nick?"  he asked, looking up from where he was on the bench, eating from his jar of chocolate grasshoppers. He kept the grasshoppers in his locker and the cockroaches in his office.  When Nick still did not respond, Gil held the jar out to him.  "Want some?"

True to his title, Bug Man Jr robotically stepped forwards and picked one.  He pulled his mask down and slowly chewed on it to steady his thoughts. The working of his jaw seemed to calm him down, enough for him to pull his mask up and get out, "I wanted to ask you about Sara." Funnily enough, he was using the same speech pattern, with the same soft voice.

"What about her?"  Gil asked casually, still snacking on grasshoppers.

"It's just that...I've, well we have noticed.  That you and Sara don't stand as close to each other as you normally would."  He was indeed more articulate now than he had been with Sara.

Grissom's answer was simple. "We're going through a global pandemic, Nick. We shouldn't stand so close."

Gil's bluntness stunned Nick.  He blinked in surprise a few times.  "Right, right..."  He turned and left.

Both Gil and Sara were left to have Nick's awkward queries buzzing around in their heads.

—————

Gil and Sara had finally made it home after working on a complicated case, and an even more confusing session of questioning from Nick. Or at least, Sara was. It was of no importance to Gil.  He did not think about it until they were cuddling in bed.

Gil was on his back, and Sara was on her side, with a hand and her head on his chest.  Gil was holding that hand.  "I think pandemic stress is getting to Nick.  You should probably talk to him.  He's been acting really word lately," Sara said, and smiled when she saw Gil do his cute eyebrow furrow.

"Yeah, now that you mention it-"