Title: Ring, Ring, Ring
A/N: Once again, this originated out of frustration – therefore I'm not too sure about it. The story is partly stolen from another sitcom, I hope you don't mind. Please read, review but mostly enjoy.
His first thought was a burglar. Naturally, a burglar would set off the alarm. But the burglar alarm sounded differently. Niles opened his eyes carefully, afraid to look at something he didn't want to see. It was still nighttime – a look at the clock told him it was 1am – and his bedroom was pitch-dark. There was no burglar as far as he could see. Still, he got up tentatively. He had learned to be quiet. You had to be if you wanted to survive high school. So Niles went downstairs. A creak on the stairs and he stopped. After the first shock and the realization that he had caused the noise himself, he went on. The beeping sound got louder the closer he came to the kitchen. Why would it beep in the kitchen? On his way downstairs, he had picked up a vase. The only thing he could spare in case he had to break it to overthrow a burglar. The vase was cheap and to be honest, he really wouldn't mind destroying it. Niles passed the front door and it was still looked. By now the beeping was causing his ears to hurt. Having checked the front door, he was convinced it had to be something else than a burglar. He just didn't know what. There was definite relief though.
Niles walked into the kitchen where the beeping was so loud that he almost fainted from the sheer loudness. Quickly, he recovered and saw the light. Not the light per se, but the red blinking spot above his oven. The fire alarm, of course. Only that there was no fire, at least none that Niles could see or smell. And his ability to smell was excellent. Several wine tasting and cooking seminars proved that. So there was a malfunction, there had to be. Niles knew he wasn't handy and for a moment he just stared at the blinking, beeping object with his hands covering his ears. He knew he had to do something if he wanted to get some sleep. Which he did. So he scrambled up a chair and carefully stepped on it. He wasn't afraid of heights, but he didn't love them either. He felt rather unstable on the chair and in an attempt to open the fire alarm, he almost fell, dragging the whole thing down with him. For a moment he thought he was dead, or had fainted. Lying on the floor, everything was quiet. The fire alarm seemingly beaten. Then, just as Niles was about to get up, it started up again.
"No!" He yelled at the white plastic form now looking broken. The thing didn't care of course, it kept on going. Niles hit it with his hands a few times, hurting himself, but as if it were laughing at him, it kept beeping. Niles took the annoying object with him and tried to hide it in several locations throughout the Montana. No matter where he put it, it kept beeping too loudly. Somehow it reminded him of Maris. Just like this fire alarm, he had never been able to stop her from being annoying. Then again, she had hardly ever been this loud. If it would make the noise stop, Niles thought, he'd even take Maris back. Holding the annoying object close, he was appalled by his own thought. The distraction only lasted shortly. There was no way he was able to make it stop, and he was too tired. He figured how his father would probably know what to do. Niles sighed. Could he take it over to Frasier's apartment? He didn't think he could drive a car with this beeping nuisance next to him. He'd leave it here, he decided, and hide at Frasier's. In the morning, he could bring his dad and together they could fix it. Well, Martin could fix it. Niles nodded to himself, hid the white plastic nuisance under a couch pillow so it wouldn't bother his neighbors. Quickly, he got dressed all the while feeling as if the fire alarm was calling out to him. He hurried even more. In the living room, he stopped; hoping that maybe, just maybe... but no such luck, the fire alarm wouldn't ever get tired. Niles was though. Half-asleep and with only half his wits about him, he set off to sleep at his brother's for the night.
Since it was the middle of the night, Niles used his key. There was no need to wake anyone else up.
"AHHH!" Niles almost fell backwards, and Daphne jumped from the couch, startled.
"Dr. Crane! What are you doing here?" She asked loudly. Her face was flushed and angry. Niles tried to normalize his heartbeat, but to no avail. The shock and the sight of Daphne with her hair so messy, so natural took the last of his breath away. No words came out of his mouth. They just wouldn't come to him, his tongue unable to move. He was paralyzed. At least, for a short moment, there was nothing but his own heartbeat in his ears. No beeping.
"Dr. Crane!" Finally, Niles snapped out of it. Just like that the beeping was back in his ears. Soft and imagined, but just as bothering as the real thing had been.
"I-I had some malfunction at home. I need a place to sleep for tonight. I'm sorry I startled you. Why aren't you in bed?" Niles asked and immediately blushed. Asking Daphne why she wasn't in bed conjured up images in his head he shouldn't even imagine and it just wasn't his place to ask anyway.
"What kind of malfunction?" Practical Daphne asked.
"Ah, my fire alarm went off," her eyes widened, "there was no fire, don't worry. I-I had no idea how to turn it off." Niles admitted. He didn't like admitting that he hadn't been able to turn it off. It made him look like a sissy, he thought.
"There's a button inside of it. To turn it off, I mean." Daphne told him, looking at him expectantly. Or even suspiciously. Niles was so tired he wasn't sure of his perception anymore. And not to mention the faint ringing still in his ear.
"There was no button," he defended himself, "I mean maybe I didn't find it. The noise it made!" Niles threw his hands up in the air in a very theatrical gesture. Out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed Daphne trying hard not to chuckle.
"What noise?" she managed to ask with an almost straight face. Niles stopped dead in his tracks, remembering.
"Ringing. Constant, nagging... ringing, beeping" It was all it took for Daphne to burst out laughing. Niles just watched her dumbfounded. For the first time not quite sure if he enjoyed the sound of her normally beautiful laughter.
"It's not that funny." He eventually mumbled and sat down on the couch, his arms crossed in front of his chest in a defensive manner. Daphne recovered herself somewhat and sat down next to him. She put a hand on his arm and it felt wonderfully warm. Niles immediately relaxed – and forgot everything else.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane. It's just, you know, just a little bit funny." She chuckled again. In an attempt to show her that it was indeed funny, probably, he tried to smile. In the end it looked more like a grimace though.
"What's funny?" A grave voice from behind asked. Both Niles and Daphne turned around. Nothing could startle them anymore, not tonight. Frasier seemed surprised though when he saw his little brother.
"Niles? What are you doing here, is everything alright?"
"Your brother had a- a malfunction!" Daphne burst out laughing again.
"My fire alarm went off and it wouldn't stop. I need to sleep here tonight. If it's alright with you."
"Of course, of course. But it's so late, Daphne, why are you still up?"
"No reason," she answered quickly, causing suspicion. She was fidgety. Frasier came closer and Daphne etched closer to the couch as if she was hiding something there. In a quick move, Frasier reached behind a cushion and pulled out a book. Daphne tried to get it back, but he was simply bigger.
"The Heroine's Curse? Daphne, are you seriously reading this?" Frasier asked, his voice laced with less than subtle disgust. Finally, she was able to get it back from him. In the darkness, neither Crane man saw her blush.
"I don't make fun of your books, do I?"
"That's because I read real literature!" Frasier defended himself.
"And I read novels that are entertaining!" Daphne almost yelled. To Niles it seemed as if they had this argument quite often. In her fury, Daphne had put the book down on the coffee table. He picked it up and looked at it. The cover showed a man and a woman in some kind of medieval environment, locked in a feverish kiss. Niles blushed. While Daphne and Frasier threw words at each other, he flipped through a couple of pages. Suddenly he understood Frasier's dismay.
"Daphne, this novel is highly misogynistic! Why are you reading that?"
"Not you, too!" Daphne yelled and snatched the book from Niles' hands. She stared at him angrily.
"You're both-both such snobs!" She ran off to her room and slammed the door, despite the late hour. It was a wonder that Martin didn't wake up from any of it. Frasier and Niles just looked at each other, unsure what to make of all of this.
"Well, that was that," Frasier broke the silence, "Tell me again, why are you here?"
"My fire alarm. I'll need dad in the morning to fix it. The ringing was driving me insane." Niles quickly explained. He felt the exhaustion again, even felt the ringing in all his body. It was no longer only in his ears, but everywhere. Frasier just nodded.
"Be my guest. Just try to be quiet now. Some of us need to work in the morning."
"You work in the afternoon." Niles reminded him with a frown.
"I still need to get up in the morning! Good night, Niles." Frasier said and wandered off again leaving Niles to himself. The apartment was beautifully quiet. As Niles conjured up a small couch pillow and a blanket, he wondered about Daphne. He didn't understand why she'd felt so appalled by his comment. After all, he only had her best interest at heart. Always. With that thought, he finally fell asleep. No ringing, no beeping and nothing to disturb him.
Daphne couldn't sleep. The anger she felt kept her awake. She stared at the novel next to her, at the fairly obnoxious cover. She knew this was no high literature, but who read Kafka in the middle of the night? The Crane family, Daphne thought bitterly. Suddenly, she had an idea. She grinned secretively to herself and got up again silently.
Niles dreamed of horses. He tried to run away from them and found he was quicker than they were. In the far away distance, he saw Daphne. His subconscious made him believe he needed to save her, even though she was smiling at him. Grinning. Niles tossed and turned, trying to run faster. He was getting closer; he was almost at her side when-
BEEEEP.
Faster than a rocket, Niles jolted up screaming. Like a girl. At first he didn't notice Daphne standing there laughing. All he heard was that sound – that beeping, ringing. In a moment of terror, he reached beside him fearing the object that had started all this had come to find him here. There was nothing. He was on Frasier's couch and he was all alone. Until he noticed Daphne. In his half asleep state, he interpreted her laughter as an outburst of hysteria. He still believed he needed to save her – from something.
"Daphne? Are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt?" He was standing beside her by then, looking her all over. His hand hovered by her cheek. Almost immediately, Daphne's laughter lapsed into silence. She stared at him. A part of her felt guilty.
"I'm fine, Dr. Crane. How about you? Hear any ringing lately?" She couldn't help herself and laugh again. Niles began to understand suddenly; it had been her! And she was making fun of him on top of everything.
"You-" Niles began and Daphne nodded, still grinning.
"You knew I came here to get away from that-that-that," he was beginning to stammer just because of her, "noise." He finally finished.
"You made fun of me novel!"
"It's not a novel, it's trash!"
"It's romantic!" Daphne countered, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"If you want to read romantic novels I can-"
"No, Dr. Crane. I like that novel. I don't want to read one of your boring books."
"At least they aren't misogynistic!" Niles almost yelled, throwing his arms in the air, "You deserve to read, to experience real romance and not such trash!"
"What?" Daphne asked, much quieter now. Niles realized how he might have said too much. He blushed, but of course Daphne couldn't see it.
"You shouldn't read these things, Daphne, because..."
"Because what?"
"Because I wouldn't want you to enjoy something like that. Something that treats women like that. You deserve to be treated like-like an angel." Niles admitted. Daphne smiled warmly at him.
"Now, that's rather romantic isn't it, Dr. Crane?"
"You deserve romance. Just not – that kind." He said much calmer.
"Thank you," in a quick move she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "But just because I read this kind of thing, doesn't mean it's what I want." She explained to him.
"It's not?" Niles asked.
"No, of course not. I'm not stupid!"
"I wasn't implying that you were." He said softly. "
"Well, I'm sorry about – you know, the ringing," Daphne said and Niles just nodded. The sound wouldn't leave him anymore, he was sure of it. "I was just angry with you."
"I get it. If it made you reconsider reading that-" Niles stopped upon seeing her look and left it unsaid.
"Have you ever even read a novel like that?" He had. Once he had found a worn copy among Maris' things and read it. Just to see what it was all about.
"If you must know, I have. I was appalled with the way the woman was treated by the man. Like an animal. I wouldn't want you... I don't want you to think of yourself as anything but equal to a man."
"Thank you, Dr. Crane." Daphne said honestly. She'd never seen it that way. "How would you treat a woman then? If you were the hero in a novel, I mean." Niles thought about her question for a moment.
"I would let her know how much she means to me. How much I respect her. And I would want her to know that no man has the right to treat her badly in any way." Niles told her, hoping she understood. She was quiet for a moment after that. The moments seemed to stretch on and Niles wasn't sure how much time actually passed.
"That's beautiful, it really is. The woman you end up with is going to be a very lucky one."
"You think so?"
"Yes, definitely. You should get back to sleep, Dr. Crane. I'm truly sorry for waking you up again." She touched his arm and Niles wished it he was at all a hero from literature, or from anything. He would stop her and confess his feelings to her. Then he reconsidered; she deserved so much more than a late night confession.
"I guess I deserved it." Niles admitted. Daphne smiled at him again; it was an apology, a realization and something more. Something neither was yet able to name, or even reach for.
"Goodnight, Dr. Crane."
"Goodnight, Daphne." Niles watched her as she walked away from him. He felt as if something new had started this night. Smiling to himself, he waited until she had disappeared. Just before he was ready to lie back down, her head reappeared again.
"Beep, beep, Dr. Crane!" she whispered loudly so that he could hear her. When she disappeared this time, she didn't come back. But Niles laughed softly. Maybe the whole thing hadn't been a malfunction after all.
END