Stoking The Fire

Chapter Twenty

Yes, we went back to the room, and no, I didn't let him carry me through the casino. I did let him pick me up after we got in the elevator, however. If we were alone, I would have snuggled right against him and enjoyed the ride. Greg and Catherine were with us though, and I just held myself stiffly and closed my eyes the whole time.

Now, we're all sitting around the room, quietly eating our food and giving each other the side eye every so often. Finally, I roll my eyes and put my fork down. "Well this is about as awkward as fuck. Alright, who wants to stab the elephant first?" Nick, Greg, and Catherine all look at each other, and at me, in a weird game of round robin, which leaves Nick finally shaking his head. He gets up from his seat at the table, and comes over to sit in the corner of the couch opposite me. He looks at me, and widens his eyes a bit with a nod.

With an 'if you say so' look, I slide over and snuggle up against him. It does actually take a little bit of wrangling around, but we end up most comfortably with him stretched out on his back, me nestled on my left side between his thighs and against his chest. I sigh happily and close my eyes.

"Well, that's one way to break the ice." Greg quips, and I feel Nick chuckle underneath me. "Yeah, it's a lot better than you smacking me upside the head. Or Catherine and Kari coming to blows in the casino bar." I snort a little, tapping my fingers against his chest. Then, I stop and look up at him. "When did Greg smack you upside the head?" He has the good grace to look sheepish.

"Well, about three weeks ago, Greg stopped by the lab while you were driving to LA."

I tilt my head. "While, I was driving to LA? During, our conversation?"

"Yes, I heard your conversation. It was very cute. Especially watching how his face lit up as the two of you talked. Wasn't so cute when he hung up, looked at me with a sigh, and said 'I'm going to actually miss these calls when some lucky guy or gal finally wins her over.'."

Catherine speaks up next. "So, when did the smacking part come in?" she asks, confused.

"Well, he looks at me, gets up from his perch on my desk, tells me that it's been great seeing me but he had to get to his real reason for being in San Diego, and he hugs me. Then, he smacks me upside the head and says 'Nick, I love you like a brother, but sometimes you're so stubborn you drive me insane. You're a fucking idiot.' Then he looks at the phone, looks at me, raises his eyebrow, then leaves."

I sigh heavily, then look over at Greg and narrow my eyes. He raises his hands and looks at me innocently. "Hey, I didn't actually say anything to him. I just expressed an opinion about an action that I found detrimental in someone that I happen to consider family. So, I'd like to keep my balls, thank you very much."

Catherine snorts her drink, and chokes. "What?"

"Well, there may have been a conversation on the last day of the trial, where Greg voiced an opinion about some interactions he observed. I called him on his bullshit, he called me on my bullshit, and then I told him if he ever mentioned it again I'd cut his balls off and sell them to a Krogan. For clarification, that's a fictional alien race from a video game series that we both happen to enjoy."

"So, I'm the last one to the party here. Greg, why didn't you mention this to me when we've had conversations about the two of them?" she asks, and I kind of look over at her a bit, confused.

"Well, Cat, it wasn't really my place to bring it up. Again, I wanted to keep my balls. I figured at some point it'd work itself out, or it wouldn't. Also, the way life ends up going, I figured we'd all end up together at some point and then maybe you could tell me if I was imagining things or not."

"But then you ended up..." she gestures, "You know, anyway!"

He nods. "Yeah, I know. You know, it's funny. I remember he was so angry around the time he told us to watch out for that psycho woman, said she might end up passing through or contacting the lab somehow, because he was afraid he'd be targeting him? I didn't really understand at the time. At first I thought it was just some crazy that he had pissed off. We tend to do that all the time, you know. Then, once I met the crazy, and heard the shit she said, I realized she was after someone else. I figured the connection might be the lab, so after I hung up with Nick I did a little interdepartmental research and found out who Kari was." Greg takes a drink, then sits back in his chair.