It was one of those paperwork days. They had just managed to close a case, and now had nothing better to do other than sit there and finish the paperwork that had built up from the last time and from this time. Needless to say, it was not what they wanted to be doing. As much as they disliked being called out on a case so soon after finishing one, neither of them wanted anything more.
As it was, the phones were, for once, not ringing, so neither of them had a choice but to do the paperwork. The door to the office was closed, leading them to believe that something they'd done had gotten them into more trouble with the brass, which wasn't exactly surprising. They were always getting yelled at by the brass for one thing or another. Most of the time they ignored it, but there were those few occasions where they actually listened.
This, however, was not one of those times, and considering the fact that Captain Deakins had not yet seen fit to say anything to them, neither one of them were paying much attention to anything other than the seemingly endless paperwork they had in front of them. They had the feeling that there were better things to be doing, but the workday was not yet over, so they remained where they were, struggling to concentrate and not at all surprised to find that they were unable to do so.
A paper clip suddenly went sailing through the air, landing smack in the middle of Alex's paperwork. She looked up, startled, only to find her partner looking back at her, a seemingly innocent look on his face, but she knew better. They were the only ones in the squad room at present; it couldn't have come from anywhere else. And seeing as she had no paper clips of her own at present, she took the next best thing: a pen cap. Bobby glanced over at her with raised eyebrows, but said nothing, sending another paper clip in her direction, as she sent the first one back at him.
"What's the point of this?" she asked. "We're supposed to be finishing this paperwork." This remark only earned another paper clip and she rolled her eyes, half tempted to throw something slightly bigger back at him, but she settled for throwing the second one back at him.
"There is no point," Bobby replied, throwing a fourth as she sent back the third, "But I figure we have nothing better to do."
"You can say that again." Alex muttered dryly, and he smirked.
"I figure we have nothing better to do." he said. She rolled her eyes again and pushed at his foot underneath their desks.
"I didn't mean literally, though now that I've heard it twice…" Something small caught Alex's eye; she picked it up and threw it at him without stopping to think about what it was; he caught it and cast a hurt look in her direction.
"I knew you were mad the comment I made earlier, but I didn't know you wanted to kill me," he said, holding up the item in question. It was a thumbtack. Alex shook her head, and picked up her pen, looking down at her paperwork as she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Get over yourself," she said. "That thing can hardly kill you. Make you bleed, maybe, but I'd hardly call it a murder weapon."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you." Another paper clip. Alex looked up and cast a mock annoyed look in Bobby's direction, shaking her head again.
"What are the odds that if Captain Deakins walks out here and sees us doing this, we'll get a lecture?" she asked, before throwing it back at him. "We're supposed to have some of this finished before we walk out of here. He'll keep us here till midnight if we don't."
"Who's to say he'll actually know if we stayed here until midnight if he goes home?"
"My dear Detective Goren, I do believe that I heard you wrong. Are you actually suggesting that even if he tells us to stay here before leaving himself, that we leave and make like we didn't come morning?"
"My dear Detective Eames, I would hardly suggest that either one of us deceive our commanding officer in that manner, but the fact remains that he wouldn't know if he went home, therefore, telling us to stay put would do no good."
"But the fact also remains that he trusts us and will continue to do so until we give him reason not to, so therefore, I ask this question: what would happen if he did find out? It is more than likely that he'd ask, and both of us are quite hopeless at lying to him with a straight face."
No answer…other than another paper clip being launched at her. Alex snorted and swatted at it as it came flying towards her desk, biting her lip to keep from laughing yet again. She picked it up and threw it back at him, having lost any and all thoughts of getting paperwork done as a full-on paper clip 'war' ensued.
Neither one of them noticed the office door opening, nor did they notice their aforementioned commanding officer watching them from the doorway. Instead, they continued on with their 'task' of seeing who could bother the other more, laughter breaking through their conversation every now and then, but for the most part, they were quiet. After a while, Jimmy shook his head and walked back into the office, closing the door behind him.
For all the stunts they pulled on cases, he mused, sometimes the ones they pulled on paperwork days were a hell of a lot more amusing.