Disclaimer: I don't own anything or characters from the show
Warnings: A couple curse words but nothing R rated
Pairings: Rafael Barba/Sonny Carisi

Barba and Carisi walk into his office to go over quick notes about a case. Barba, who usually walked with sense of importance, was hunched over, making him look even shorter next to the detective.

Carisi takes notice, "Hey, Counselor. Something wrong?"

"I'm fine." Barba says despite his face saying he wasn't as he sits in his chair. His back was bothering him a lot for the past couple of days. He pulled it, trying to grab an item at the supermarket that was higher than he could reach. The consequences of getting older he figured. He tries his damnedest to rub his own back.

Carisi gave an amused look as he looks over his folder.

"What?" Barba gave an annoyed look.

"Nothing," Carisi tries as hard as he could to suppress his smile but he couldn't help it.

Barba rolls his eyes as he jots a couple of notes down. "Right." He tries again to rub his own back, which was slightly spasming. "Damn." His face grimaces and he almost tears up. How embarrassing. He must have looked crazy. No wonder the young detective was laughing at him.

Just like clockwork Carisi chimes in, "Need help? Impossible itch to scratch?"

Barba gave a disapproving look, "Not an itch. My back hurts but it's ..." he winces for a moment, "not a big deal. F-focus at the task."

"Trying to but watching you turn into a pretzel is distracting. And you're less focused than I am." He lays his folder down. "I can help."

Barba thinks to himself, "By leaving," but all he does is flash a false smile, "Oh, can you? How?" Part of him was curious as to how he would answer.

"A back massage." Carisi almost blushes but conceals it. "Had a friend that used to get terrible backaches and stuff. Learned how to. I'm told I'm quite good and they haven't had back pain since. Random skill, I guess." He smiles.

"Ok, but make it quick and not weird." Barba said in a serious tone as he takes off his jacket.

"Sayin' that makes it weird," Carisi blurts out as he gets up and walks behind Barba.

"J-just get on with it," Barba's face grimaces as he feels another sharp pain shoot from his back. How unprofessional it would look if someone were to walk in on this but he figured he might as well try. Not even the ibuprofen he took before for it was helping. Conveniently, the room was empty, the shades for the entry door were closed, and he wasn't expecting anyone for a long while.

Carisi says nothing at first as he places his hands on his back and slowly rubs his shoulders.

Barba eyes go wide and he blushes. "Why?" He thinks to himself. "Nothing more than a backrub, Raf. Between coworkers."

"Is there any spot that really hurts?" There was actual concern in Carisi's voice.

Barba really wanted to give a sarcastic answer like, "My entire back" but instead said, "The base of my neck and my right shoulder."

"Gotcha," his hands rubs Barba's shoulders a little more and travelled to the back of his neck. Barba hated to admit it but it felt good. Almost too good. "Wow, you're really tense. You got some serious knots goin' on." Carisi's voice broke him out of his daydream state.

"You could say," Barba says dryly, masking how much he was enjoying this. The pressure Carisi applied kept getting stronger. Damn. He really was hitting the spot. Was Carisi a masseuse in a past life? Of course, his mind wondered about what a full body message would be like from the detective. "Cut that out," he thinks to himself. Suddenly, there was an audible pop and he felt it too, which, thankfully, got him out of that unprofessional mindset. He felt slightly better. Carisi then gets to work on his right shoulder. Barba took note of how strong his grip was. He was almost turned on but resisted the notion, despite having an uneasy feeling in his groin.

"If I can give you some advice, you should relax." Carisi works his fingertips in his shoulder blade.

Barba gives him a glaring look, "I am ... relaxed." He really was. If he was any more relaxed, he'd be unconscious.

"No, I mean, off work. You work a lot but I think you carry it at home too." He explains.

Barba rolls his eyes. How could he relax? He was always on call, always working on at least 5 different cases at the same time, discussing cases constantly with Benson and various other police agencies. He had no time to relax, plus he strained his back reaching for an item. Not work related. He was feeling stressed again, complete opposite of what he wanted with this massage. Why did Carisi have to open his mouth? He should stand there looking pretty and be quiet. "'Looking pretty', Raf? Are you nuts?" But as he soon as concentrated on Carisi's touch, he forgot his worries and annoyances again. He shakes his head and had to admit how he hurt his back, "I was reaching for a can of soup, if you really want to know." Barba purses his lips, anticipating for some wiseass remark from the detective.

"Happens to the best of us." Surprisingly, not wiseass at all and Carisi's tone was, once more, caring. Adorable. Not adorable. Barba felt conflicted why he was feeling this way towards him. He focuses on the massage itself more than his feelings. His hands felt so good that he let out an audible groan, "oohf!" which causes Barba to actually blush. He thinks, "What the hell, Raf?!"

"I'm not hurting you, am I?!" Carisi stops.

"No, please continue. I'm not made of glass." Barba looks up at him again before looking down, randomly at one of his knickknacks on his desk. He feels his touch again. Thoughts ran through his head. Yeah, that's the spot. Damn, he was quite amazing at this. Forget the $50 or so dollars he actually pays a real masseuse for this. He'd rather give it to Carisi. Or treat him to something that wasn't pizza. No, stop thinking about him. Especially like that. Keep it professional. His shoulder was slowly feeling much better, almost brand new. What kind of magic was this? Did Carisi practice in the art of witchcraft? He must have, Barba concluded.

One more kneading motion from Carisi's hands and he was done. "Better?"

"Much," Barba could actually stretch.

"Great," Carisi gives a soft smile and returns to a seat. "Told you I was good." He smirks.

"You did but now we have to get back to work, Detective." Barba starts to open a folder.

Carisi nods and they start to discuss case notes.

-END-