Niles hates using the key to his brother's apartment. He is part of this family, yes, and he keeps the key on him at all times in case of an emergency. Some people would call his current predicament a nuisance, maybe, but definitely not an emergency. Just a Maris induced crisis that needs to be drowned with a good sherry. And unfortunately Frasier has the good sherry (and Niles' wife doesn't let him into the house where he could have had mediocre sherry at least).
In his defense, he knocks first. He knocks three times; he waits precisely 8 minutes before he makes his decision. No one answers the door and as much as Niles hates this, he fishes for the key. He does it slowly just in case. His father would need a moment longer to come to the door. Frasier could have been in the bathroom. Daphne could be changing. His heart feels heavy when it realizes it won't see Daphne in a moment. Maybe seeing her face light up with a smile could have cured his heartache, too.
He puts in the key and the door opens. There's no Eddie running towards him, which is a good thing. Niles enters carefully as if he's expecting someone to scold him. He stuffs the key back into his coat. He won't take it off; he can't possible stay here, can he? In four quick strides, he reaches the sherry. Niles releases a sigh of happiness as he pours the liquid into a glass. The sweet alcohol washes through him, slows his blood and his thoughts. It's beautiful.
And then he hears it.
At first he's convinced it's just an auditory hallucination. They exist. But no, there it is again. A screeching noise and something that sounds like… singing? Niles puts down his sherry glass and follows the noise. It leads him towards Frasier's bedroom. Entering the apartment by himself borders on intrusion, but walking into Frasier's sanctuary is basically insanity. He does it anyway. What he finds there as he pushes the slightly ajar door open leaves him motionless, breathless.
Daphne.
He whispers her name in desperation (or maybe he just thinks it; he can no longer tell) and just stands there frozen to the spot. She has her back to him, which is fortunate (and not just because she has a formidable back side). Niles needs a moment to realize that she's got enormous headphones on. If he looked closer, he'd see that they're Frasier's latest acquisition; if he'd remember that his brother forbade anyone to even touch them. Niles, however, doesn't realize any of these things. He only has eyes for this woman who takes his breath away. Daphne, who dances like a woman without a single care in the world. Who sings like it, too. And badly. Oh Daphne, he sighs, this is the worst singing I've ever listened to. Not that he recognizes the song; from what he can tell it seems to be a pop song, maybe something about never ending love. Niles can't be sure and he's not sure he even cares.
Because he just watches her. Her hair is flying wildly about in this unrehearsed, carefree chorography. Her hands, seemingly clutching something, dance about in perfect rhythm. She's cleaning! Niles realizes a moment later. He can't help but chuckle. What a beautiful sight, he thinks. She's perfect. She's turning around and oh no.
"Dr. Crane!" He doesn't expect it. The possibility of her turning around crossed his mind once in fleeting, right at the beginning. Right before he lost himself in the sight of her. So no, he doesn't expect this. She turns around. Startled, she throws her cleaning rag at him. The slightly moist, surprisingly dusty, thing hits Niles right in the face. He has no time to be disgusted because he starts sneezing immediately. His hands fly about trying to apologize, but his nose keeps betraying him.
"Oh my god, Dr. Crane, I'm so sorry!" She rushes towards him and unfortunately, brings even more dust with her so Niles can't stop sneezing. His lungs clutch for air, not finding anything, so his hands reach out and find Daphne. She grips his fingers tightly and throws words at him that he can't understand.
"What is going on in here?" Frasier's voice barks from behind Niles just when he thinks he can finally breathe again. Now he's the startled one and once again unable to catch his breath.
"Dr. Crane!" For once Niles has no idea if she's talking to him, or to Frasier.
"Are you wearing my new headphones?" Frasier keeps on barking, now directly at Daphne. Niles turns around, trying to explain everything (how he wants to explain away Daphne wearing the headphones is unclear to him, but he'll come up with something).
Frasier stares at him angrily with his wild eyes opened wide; his cheeks burn red as he seems ready to burst any minute. Niles crafts the words together like some shiny science project – sherry, Maris, keys, empty apartment - but when he opens his mouth none of them come out. He feels the tickle, feels the water in his eyes, but there's no way he can hold it back; there's no way he can even turn away. The sneeze comes quickly and violently and directly into Frasier's face.
Frasier stares at his brother; speechless. Niles, just as speechless, is afraid to ever open his mouth again. So the only sound is Daphne's cheesy pop song gently squeezing through the headphones. It's definitely something about never ending, undying love. How fitting, Niles thinks, before he sees Niles ready to explode.
"What on earth do you think –"
"Oh here you all are – what's going on here?" Niles has never been this happy to see his father. He's so happy he could actually hug him.
"I'm – I was – cleaning." Daphne explains. She's still wearing the headphones and she looks ridiculous, Niles thinks. They're way too big for her.
"Niles sneezed on me!"
"Oh don't be such a baby, Fras." Martin says looking at his younger son. Niles tries to smile, but it turns into a grimace.
"Sorry." His voice sounds as ragged as he feels.
"I don't care what happened in here," Martin looks at all three of them quickly, "but I have company. So you better pull yourself together and act like adults. For once."
"But dad!"
"Frasier, no. Not now. Save it for later. Now come on." Frasier throws a glance at his brother, who offers him his handkerchief. To his surprise, Frasier takes it, wipes his face and hands it back to Niles. Without another word, he leaves his bedroom.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Crane. You startled me!" Daphne has finally taken off the headphones. She's holding them like some prized possession. He's not sure he wants to be around later when Frasier freaks out about this.
"I know, Daphne. I'm sorry. I didn't expect anyone to be home. I knocked! I heard a noise and…" And you looked so beautiful, he thinks. If only he could tell her that. But it's enough because she starts smiling at him.
"Oh, it's fine. You got your punishment," she says and winks at him, causing his heart to miss at least one beat, "Now come on. You look like you could need a drink." She touches his arm and as Niles follows her into the living room, he realizes he was right; her smile can always cure his heartaches.