A/N: My idiot brother and his friend "helped" me come up with these prompt words. They are underlined in the story, but here they are again:
Gun, Phone, Motorcycle, Fire, Age, Desk.
Sweat beaded his forehead as he wiped at it with the back of his hand. His heart pounded in his chest, causing him to fear it would burst if he took one more lungful of air. A shout caused him to turn his head, and he stumbled backwards as the orange ball bounced hard against his chest. Looking down at the foreign object, he palmed it and looked up from underneath is eyebrows. Counting three pairs of waving hands, he heaved the ball towards the only male.
The large man grinned and pretended to step forward, causing the brunette female in front of him to trip over her own feet. He breezed past with a gleeful, "Yippee!" Cursing, the woman watched as the man made an easy lay-up.
"Whatever, Logan," she snarled, brushing a dark curl away from her forehead.
Logan smirked and shrugged. "It wasn't all me, sweetheart." He motioned towards the other two players.
"I need some help here, Alex!" she cried, throwing her hands up into the air.
"Sorry Carolyn," Alex laughed, crinkling her little nose.
"I'm not, Carolyn," teased Logan, prodding the woman in her side before sidestepping her attempt to punch him. He smirked before releasing a sharp whistle, "Hey, Goren, heads up." He gave the curly headed detective a firm chest pass. "We're on fire!" he bellowed, wincing when Carolyn managed to elbow him in the ribs.
Goren lumbered over towards the small group, his breath coming out in short pants. He bent over, placing his hands on his knees. Blinking rapidly, he slowly stood and offered the others a small smile. "It's been…a long time." He waved a hand in the air, "Since I played, well, any sport."
"Yeah well, you're doing great pal." Logan assured him, thumping his back in a friendly manner. Turning to Carolyn, Mike added, "And despite my crappy pay, I may actually be able to afford that motorcycle I've been eyeing."
"Oh yeah, how so?" Carolyn demanded, crossing her arms over her smudged, white tank top.
"Well, from the winnings of this game, of course." Feigning seriousness, he eyed both of the women. "You two are paying up, aren't you?"
"For dinner," Alex scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "We agreed to pay for dinner, not your new bike."
Laughing, Logan offered another shrug. "Worth a try, ladies."
"Oh," Carolyn hit his arm, ignoring his annoyed expression.
Alex turned towards her partner, who was toeing the asphalt with a worn sneaker. When he felt her eyes on him, he looked up sheepishly and wiped a hand on his red polyester shorts. "How 'bout it, Goren? Ready to eat?"
"I know I am," came over her shoulder, followed by, "I am not always hungry!"
"I wasn't asking you, now was I Logan?" demanded Alex, without tearing her eyes away from the bashful man before her. It always amazed her how intense and animated Goren could be one second, and how little and quiet he could be in the next.
"I'm ready whenever you, uh, you guys are," Goren replied softly, absently rubbing a hand over his blue NYPD t-shirt. Alex nodded and motioned for the other pair to come with her, heading towards the bench at the outskirt of the court.
Lingering behind Eames and Goren, Carolyn paused and glanced over at her partner. He pulled up short and schooled his pained expression with a bemused one. "Huh? What? Something on my face or somethin'?"
Sighing, she pointed to his leg. "You overdid it, didn't you?"
"I'm okay," he offered her a wide smile and raised both brows, "See? Peachy keen, babe." His smile didn't falter when he saw the dark look pass over his partner's face.
"Call me 'babe' again, Michael, and I swear I'll shoot you." Carolyn took a menacing step forward, intending to scare the larger man. However, he smiled amusedly and nodded.
"Point taken-" he cut himself short when he caught the darkening of her face, "Barek."
"Hey!" Alex shouted from where she stood by the bench. "You two comin' or what?"
"Yeah, yeah, hold'ya horses." Logan muttered as he attempted to make his way over without limping as badly as he had been. Carolyn heaved a sigh as she watched him hobble over carefully. "Where to?"
Although her partner was sitting down on the bench, Alex barely had to glance down to catch his eye. Motioning to him with a shoulder, she claimed, "His pick, since you picked last time." She shuddered with a laugh.
"Yeah, and we're not letting that happen again," muttered Carolyn as she approached.
"What's wrong with what I picked?" Logan protested, easing himself down slowly, next to Goren's massive frame.
"Fried intestines? Kangaroo meat? Ants!" cried Carolyn, resisting to the urge to bug her eyes out in her enthusiasm.
"I didn't mind," Goren stated, looking from one person to the other. From their expressions he shrugged casually, "Really… it was, it was different. I liked it."
"Yeah well," Logan grimaced, "Had I known that that was what I was eating? I would have whipped out my gun and shot them for exposing me to it."
"Which is why we're no longer invited back there, and also why you can longer pick the places we dine at." Carolyn said, offering her partner a cheeky smile.
Ignoring Logan's, "Whatever," Alex nudged Goren and perked a brow. "Well? Whadda ya say there, big guy? What's it going to be?"
Laughing softly, he turned to face the small Alex and questioned, "Chinese or Italian?"
"Oo-Hey! Cut it out!"
"Then shut your big mouth!"
Pondering over her choice, Alex ignored the jabbering from the bickering partners. Tapping her chin in thought, she decided, "How about Chinese? I could go for some Moo Shu Pork right now."
Nodding in agreement, Goren pulled his phone from his pocket as she spoke. Glancing down at the small object, he frowned. Holding it up for the others to see, he muttered, "Broken."
"You mean you didn't take it out during the game?" Logan scoffed, once again earning a hit from his feisty partner. "Would'ya quit it? You beat on me so bad, I'm afraid I'll be riding a desk for the months to come."
"Assuming I'll stick around that long," she shot back.
This earned her a smug smile, "Oh you won't be able to tear yourself away from me, sweetheart." He laughed when he easily caught her hand in his own. Pulling her down to his side, he shook a finger in her face. "Nah-uh, Barek, play nice."
Feeling playful, she stuck her tongue out at him. He crooked a brow at her and pulled his head back, "Wow, grow up."
She reared her head back and laughed, clutching her stomach. "'Grow up!'" She nearly howled. "Mike Logan-resident idiot, is telling me to 'grow up?'"
Very nearly pouting, he rubbed his sore leg and looked over to where Goren and Eames were watching them with amused expressions. "I'm not an idiot. Granted I'm not as smart as Colombo over there," he jerked a thumb at Goren, who gave Eames a confused look as she returned it, "But I'm no idiot."
Goren opened his mouth to respond to the Colombo remark, wanting very much to explain how that didn't make any sense, but a hand on his broad shoulder made him stop. Chewing on his bottom lip in order to quell any urges to question Logan on his choice of words, he nodded and ran a hand through his sweaty curls.
"We, uh, are we ready? To, to go?" he looked pointedly at the other pair, before turning his dark eyes upon his partner with an imploring expression. "My back is killing me."
"Sure," Alex glanced at the others, "I'm good. You two done gabbing?"
Carolyn placed a hand over Logan's mouth as she replied, "We're ready." Logan slumped in his seat and frowned.
"Act your age, Logan, and bite your tongue every now and then will ya?" sighed Carolyn, knowing full well that he may never listen to her demands.
"Can we go now?" he asked, rubbing a hand over his knee as he glared at his partner.
"My car. I'm driving." Goren and Logan exchanged looks as Alex stalked off, Carolyn at her side.
"Uh, Goren?"
"Yes?"
"Mind helping a fellow officer up?"
"Uh, well not if you, um, help me up too."
Shrugging Logan grasped the other man's hand, and they managed to tug one another to their feet. Glancing down at their clasped hands, they both pulled away quickly, sheepishly wiping their hands on their shorts.
"Never speak of this…?" Logan trailed off, unable to meet the other man's eyes.
"Well, uh…yeah-no, we won't…" Goren sputtered, unable to form a sentence as he kneaded the back of his neck.
"Good."
"You two coming or what!?"
END.
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