Title: Sick Day
Rating: PG
Summary: Walter Bishop's not the only one feeling a disruption in his routine.
Genre(s): Gen, Humor
Characters: Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop, and Olivia Dunham
Spoilers: The series up to 01x03 (The Ghost Network)
Warnings: Done stricty for laughs
Disclaimer: I really, really wish I owned these guys. Sadly, I do not.
A/N: Unbeta'd. Finding my feet in this 'verse before attempting something longer that will need beta'd. Con crit always welcomed
Walter's lab was more chaotic than usual.
Peter navigated through a sea of crumpled paper; bits of broken glass crunched beneath his shoes. Walter himself sat at the piano, methodically plunking out discordant notes as he grumbled beneath his breath. Peter ignored him; he knew it was better to allow the man time to cool down than to try and talk to him in his present mood.
"What's he doing?" he asked Astrid, jerking his head back towards Walter.
"He's being very rude," countered Astrid, her eyes never leaving her computer screen. "In Latin, which he knows is my weakest language."
Walter responded with a string of (possibly offensive) words in a dead language. Peter caught about half of it. He definitely heard Olivia's name in the flow of sound. Before he could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Expecting it was another kid looking for the Poly Sci department, he went to answer it.
"Hi," said the confused man on the other side of the door. "Did someone...here...order a pizza?"
It seemed Walter had ordered the pizza. Not to eat it, but to use it in an experiment he could hardly be bothered to explain. Peter was beginning to think the old man was being deliberately bizarre today. Nonetheless, he paid for the pizza- all seven of the pizzas.
"I went to the bathroom," Astrid explained taking a few of the pizza boxes from his arms. "When I came back, Walter was on my cell phone."
"It's alright, he does that," Peter assured her. "The man's a menace." He opened one of the boxes. "Pizza?"
Walter disapproved. Astrid told him, in Latin, that he didn't need all of the pizzas and that she was eating this one. At least that's what Peter thought she said. He was about to ask her, when he noticed something missing from the lab.
"Where's Gene?" he asked, looking around for the cow.
Astrid didn't miss a beat. "Free-grazing in the horticulture lab," she said. Peter had no reply for that. Astrid went on. "You have two calls from Broyles. We have a meeting with Agent Francis at noon. I need to leave early, I have a doctor's appointment. Any questions?"
Peter's cell phone rang. He saw the name on the display and answered the call with relief. He had one thing he had to say to her. One natural conclusion that he had to share with Olivia Dunham.
"Dunham," he growled, "you are never allowed to take another sick day again. Ever."
fin