The hotel was already bustling when they arrived. Henry checked in at the front desk while Lucas hung back and gawked around the lobby. Some of the leading medical examiners in the world were going to be here, and he intended to meet all of them.

They were at the National Medical Examiner Conference. Henry had been invited to give a lecture and sit on a panel, as his extensive knowledge of death was beginning to gain a reputation outside of the NYPD. Lucas was tagging along for the opportunity to learn as much as humanly possible in two days.

As they rode the elevator up to their room, Lucas couldn't contain his excitement.

"This is so cool, doc. Did you see Doctor Rothstein down in the lobby? I can't believe I got to breathe the same air as him!"

"Yes, Lucas, I can see how that must have been a life-changing experience for you."

"I know. I know! I'm going to learn so much this weekend. Not to mention I get to spend a whole time hanging out with you. You know, I've always thought that if I had 24-hour access to you I'd crack your tough exterior eventually."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Lucas. Remind me again why we're sharing a room this weekend?"

The elevator doors slid open and the two men rolled their luggage down the hall.

"Budget cutbacks, doc. We're lucky Lieutenant Reece let me come at all."

"Lucky, indeed. Precisely the word I would have chosen."

"Ah, come on, Henry. If she hadn't approved my travel expenses you would have let me hide in your suitcase, right?"

Henry slid his keycard into the lock before replying to his assistant.

"Lucas-" He stopped short.

"Yeah doc?"

Henry looked from the single bed in the middle of the room to his assistant and back, his face a picture of shock.

"Oh, no. No no no no no."

"Well, it's a little cozy. But hey, at least it's roomier than a suitcase!"

Henry was already out the door.

"Excuse me. Excuse me!" He flagged down a harried-looking employee back in the lobby. "There's been a mistake with my room."

"I'm sorry, sir. What seems to be the issue?"

"There's only one bed."

"And that's a problem?"

"You have no idea."

She went to the computer. "What is your name, sir?"

"Morgan. Doctor Henry Morgan."

She typed it in to the system and looked at his reservation. "I'm afraid you didn't make any special requests as to sleeping arrangements, sir, so you were given a standard room with one bed."

"No no no. That has to be wrong. I didn't make the reservation, it was done through the office, but they assured me there would be two beds. Two. Separate. Not one."

"Well, I don't know what they told you, sir, I can only tell you what they reserved for you, and that's just one bed."

"Switch us to another room. Please. I'm sorry, I know that's inconvenient, but you have to understand. I'm here with my assistant and it would be… inappropriate. Not to mention unbearable."

"I'm sorry sir, but we're a full house this weekend. Between the conference and a couple of wedding parties, we're booked solid. There are no available rooms to move you to."

"Well, what about a cot? Hotels have cots, right? Can you bring us one?"

"I'll see what I can do. How about you go back to your room and someone will come up in a few minutes, okay?"

Back at the room, Henry was greeted with the sound of Bon Jovi and the sight of skin. Way too much skin. Lucas was standing on the bed, clad in nothing but a pair of spiderman boxers, playing air guitar and singing at the top of his lungs.

Henry raised a hand to cover his eyes.

"Lucas! What are you doing?"

No response.

"LUCAS!"

Nothing. Peeking between his fingers at the floor, Henry navigated toward the source of the music. Finding Lucas's phone on the dresser, he jabbed at buttons until the noise finally stopped.

"Oh, heyyyyyy, sorry doc. I was just getting settled in."

"Settled – settled in? This is – Lucas – why – ?"

"Hey, come on now, no need to be rude about it. A little Bon Jovi never hurt anyone. With an attitude like that, you'll give love a bad name."

There was a knock at the door. Lucas headed toward it.

"Lucas!"

He turned with a sigh. "What now?"

"Why don't you let me to answer it? You're not exactly… proper."

"You know, for a guy with a penchant for skinny-dipping, you're a bit of a prude."

Henry just shook his head and went to open the door.

Outside was a hotel employee. "Hi! Are you the guy who was looking for a cot?"

"Oh, thank heavens, you've found one."

"Well, actually, sir, I'm very sorry, but we have a limited number of cots and unfortunately they're all in use already."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"A cot? What do we need a cot for, doc, are we expecting a guest? Oh my god is one of your fancy science friends staying with us? Who is it?"

"No, Lucas, no guests. I requested a cot because as you can see, there is only one bed."

"Yeah but it's a queen-size. Plenty of room for two!" Lucas clapped him on the shoulder.

Henry looked at Lucas' bare frame next to him, then back at the hotel employee. He took his wallet from his pocket. "Look, this is all I have on me right now," he said as he pulled out two hundred dollar bills, "but I'm sure that will be plenty to make one of those cots become available. What say you, my good man?"

"I'm sorry sir, but bribery doesn't work at this hotel. Look, I did bring you these -" He turned to a cart behind him and grabbed several extra blankets and pillows, which he shoved into a surprised Henry's arms. "- so hopefully that will make you more comfortable. Enjoy your stay!" He wheeled his cart away down the hall.

Henry looked at the pile of bedding in his arms. "Here, Lucas." He pulled out a blanket, dropping the rest to the floor. "You take this." He held it up in front of the younger man's body, making a gesture to wrap it around himself.

"You don't want to share a bed with me."

"Of course not."

"I don't wet the bed. I grew out of that when I was twelve."

"That's actually not what I was concerned about."

"Well then, what is it?"

"I just don't think it would be appropriate. I thought we would both be more comfortable if we had our own beds."

"Well, if that's how you feel, you take the bed. I'll just take these –" Lucas gathered up the extra blankets "-and sleep on the floor." He tossed the blankets into a pile, curled up on top of them, and pulled the blanket Henry had given him up over his head.

"Lucas…" Henry looked down at the pathetic sight. "You can't sleep on the floor. That's not what I intended."

No response.

"Lucas. You're right. We are both grown men. Mature, professional adults. We can share the bed."

A head popped up from amongst the blankets. "Alright! Slumber party!"

That night, Henry had already turned out the lamp on his side of the bed and closed his eyes when Lucas came to the bed.

"Goodnight doc."

"Goodnight, Lucas." He opened his eyes a crack as he said it. "Good lord! Do you ever wear pants?"

"Well, normally I sleep in the nude. Kept these bad boys on just for you!" He snapped the elastic of his boxers against his skin.

"How… considerate."

Lucas crawled into the bed. Henry rolled over and tried to go to sleep.

"Hey, Henry?"

"Yes, Lucas?"

"Do you think they miss us back at the precinct?"

"I hope not. I hope they have a nice quiet weekend with no murders. Let Jo and Hansen get some rest for a change."

"Yeah, I guess. Besides, I wouldn't want to miss out on any cool murders!"

"Of course. That too."

Henry had almost gotten to sleep when – "hey, doc?"

"Yes, Lucas?"

"Do you think someday I'll get to present at fancy conferences?"

Henry hesitated for a second.

"Yes. I suppose you probably will. You are quite talented, Lucas. If you remain focused on your work and continue to learn all that you can, I'm sure any conference would be delighted to have you speak."

"You really think so?"

"I do."

"Wow. Who knew, all it takes to get a compliment out of Doctor Morgan is to get him in bed."

"Lucas –"

"Sorry doc. I'll keep that observation to myself."

"Thank you."

Just as Henry had drifted off to sleep, he was pulled back to reality with a "Hey, Henry?"

"Lucas -"

"Do you think Jo –"

"No."

"Really? Because I kind of got the impression that she -"

"Please, Lucas. I'm trying to sleep."

"Right. Sorry. Big day tomorrow. You need your beauty rest. I'm shutting up."

"Thank you."

Henry drifted awake the next morning from a pleasant dream about Abigail. He smiled sadly as he was pulled back to a reality without her. As he emerged from the fog of sleep, he became aware of a warm mass under his arm and cheek. Opening his eyes fully, he realized that he was sleeping with his head on Lucas' chest, and his arm wrapped around his assistant. He slowly extracted his arm, trying not to wake Lucas.

"Oh hey, you're up? Good morning!"

"Lucas!" Henry abruptly sat up and shifted away from the younger man. "What are you doing?"

"Reading." He gestured with comic book - graphic novel - he held above his head.

"But why didn't you wake me?"

"It occurred to me that you might not be a morning person. No offence, but I'm just saying, you can be a bit of a grump sometimes. Besides, I felt bad for keeping you up last night, so I figured I'd let you sleep until your alarm went off."

"That was...kind of you, Lucas. But unnecessary. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"Not at all. I get why you didn't want to share the bed now, but if you thought I'd be weirded out by your cuddling habits, you should have just said so."

"Yes, well. Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose."

"Not to worry. Besides, we've still got another night here, so we'll have a chance to find the ideal cuddling position."

"The ideal… no, that's not- I don't want-" Henry stared at Lucas, then abruptly rose from the bed. "I'm going to get ready for the conference. We'll discuss sleeping arrangements later."

"Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it. I'm an excellent big spoon, Henry. You have no idea what you're missing out on."

"I'm sure I don't," Henry muttered as he headed to the bathroom to get ready.