This story was a challenge to myself to write something light and fluffy, since most of my stuff has been dark and angsty so far, so this is what I came up with. Since the characters spend the majority of this chapter drunk, annoying, and childish, this story is pretty silly so far, lol. Takes place in season 17, although Noah and Jesse don't exist, and I haven't written Barba, Tucker, or either of the Dodds into the story, as I just wanted to concentrate on the core characters. Everyone is pretty OOC in this fic.
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Olivia Benson stands in her apartment at the door to her balcony, watching the snow swirl throughout the frigid New York streets. It is a dark and cold Friday evening in the city, and the forecast is calling for a snowstorm to hit over the weekend but it looks like they have a day or two before things get really bad. The snow is drifting down in soft white flakes right now, swirling gently underneath the streetlamps and lending an ethereal, magical quality to the streets where they do their tough and gritty jobs.
She is waiting for her colleagues to arrive, having decided to invite them over for a pleasant get-together after a rough week at work and before they get more snow; and the apartment is glowing in the soft lamplight, wine and cheese set out on the coffee table and quiet music playing on the radio. The setting is perfect for a nice, relaxing evening with her co-workers, except for one minor detail.
The temperature in the apartment has been on the fritz for the past week now, sometimes heating up so high that Olivia has to strip down to her underwear the second she walks in the door, and other times plunging down so low that she has to pile every blanket she can find onto her bed before she goes to sleep at night. Unfortunately, the latter is the problem at the moment, the apartment quite chilly since she had arrived home a couple of hours earlier, and it doesn't bode well for the weather they are having as New York is currently caught in a bitter cold snap.
She has called the superintendent of her building a couple of times over the past several days to see what the issue is and when it will be fixed, but hasn't heard anything back yet and has been far too busy with their current caseload to follow up on the issue. Olivia hasn't been home enough over the past few days for it to be a major concern yet, but she doesn't want her colleagues to be uncomfortable while they are here, so she lights some candles and sets them up throughout the living room and kitchen, hoping to create a bit more warmth and add a lovely smell and ambience to the setting.
Her buzzer sounds as she is lighting the last candle and she hurries to answers it, Fin and Carisi down in the lobby, having carpooled together. She is surprised at the amount of alcohol and junk food they bring in with them upon arriving in her unit a few minutes later, their arms laden down with booze and bags of chips, immediately remarking on how cold it is in the apartment. They are piling everything onto the kitchen table and counters when the buzzer sounds again, signalling Amanda's arrival, and Olivia frowning slightly when she thinks she hears a bark after the blonde detective's voice comes through the speaker.
"Did Amanda bring her dog?" she asks suspiciously, feeling a bit confused as she turns around to regard her co-workers with her arms crossed in front of her.
Fin shrugs, looking like he either doesn't know or doesn't care, but Carisi looks a little sheepish, and Olivia raises her eyebrows at him expectantly.
"She said Frannie hasn't been feeling well and she didn't want to leave her home alone for the evening," he explains a bit timidly. "She's really sorry she had to bring her, though."
"Well, she could have just stayed home and joined us another time," Olivia replies with a sigh, thinking that this is yet another example of how Amanda seems to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. "This building doesn't allow dogs."
There is a knock on the door, followed by a slight scratching sound, and Olivia rolls her eyes as she strides over to answer it, Amanda standing there with a giant bottle of wine in one hand and Frannie's leash in the other. The dog is sitting patiently on the floor by the other woman's feet and both of them look up at her, Amanda smiling cheerfully with a note of hesitance in her expression, Frannie's tongue lolling out of her mouth and fur dusted with a light layer of snow.
"Hey, Liv," the detective says brightly, thrusting the bottle at her and taking a step inside with Frannie right on her heels.
"Amanda..." Olivia trails off, arching an eyebrow and gesturing down at the other woman's pet. "You could have asked first, you know."
"Well, yeah, but I figured you would say no," Amanda replies casually, a slight blush creeping across her pale cheeks. "Frannie's a little under the weather so I didn't want to leave her at home, and I also didn't want to spend the night alone while all of you were over here having fun."
Before Olivia can respond, Amanda is all the way inside, shrugging out of her giant winter coat and pulling the woolly hat off her head, long blonde hair standing on end for a moment before she smooths it down. She strides into the kitchen to say hello to Fin and Carisi while Frannie immediately plops down onto the couch, rolling over onto her side and making herself at home.
Olivia shakes her head as she looks at the dog and then takes the bottle of wine into the kitchen, deciding to be a good sport about it and not complain. Amanda definitely has an irritating quality about her and is good at getting under her skin, but she doesn't want to get the evening started off on a bad note, so she strikes up a cheerful conversation with her detectives. They stand around in front of the counter for several minutes, chatting and pouring glasses of wine and opening bottles of beer and bags of chips, before moving back into the living room and taking seats around the coffee table, Amanda shooing Frannie onto the floor.
Olivia rolls her eyes as the dog starts nibbling on the cheese she had set out to go with the wine, but then realizing there is again no point in complaining, as her colleagues are currently scarfing down beer and chips as if their lives depend on it, Fin already having turned the radio to a hardcore rap station and Carisi dropping chips onto the carpet as he eats, and she guesses that a quiet, classy evening is just not in the cards tonight.
They spend the next little while chatting about their current cases at work, until Olivia makes an effort to steer the topic of conversation in another direction, just wanting to enjoy a light, fun evening with her colleagues and have a break from the horror and stress they have to deal with on a daily basis. Fin is telling a funny story about his son when Amanda gets up from the couch, wandering away from the group while chugging her bottle of beer, and walks around the room, peering at photographs and other knick-knacks that Olivia has displayed before opening the door of a nearby closet.
"Oops, I thought this was the bathroom," she chuckles, already slurring her words a little, when Olivia starts to protest about the younger woman going through her things.
"The bathroom is down the hall," she replies with a stern gesture of her hand, but Amanda has stopped short, the blonde detective breaking into sudden laughter at what she sees inside the closet.
"Oh my god, guys, check this out," she says to Fin and Carisi. "Liv has Twister and a karaoke machine in here!" She turns to look at Olivia, one eyebrow quirked in amusement. "Is this what you do when you're not at work, Liv? Sing and play Twister all by yourself? That's kind of sad."
"Don't be ridiculous, Amanda," she mutters in annoyance. "The Twister game is from my college days, and the karaoke machine was a silly birthday present I got years back. It's never been used."
"Well, let's use it!" Carisi enthuses, and Amanda nods encouragingly as she agrees with him.
Fin looks a little less enthused but murmurs his agreement as well, and Olivia sighs while throwing an aggravated look at Amanda.
"I don't even know how to use this thing," she grumbles in protest, walking over to the closet and lifting it off the shelf.
"I know how to use it," Carisi assures her. "We have an old one just like that, and we use at all of our family parties. I'll get it set up."
"And we should play Twister too," Amanda suggests brightly.
"You know, I don't really feel comfortable playing Twister with my subordinates," Olivia replies dryly. "But knock yourselves out with the karaoke machine."
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For the next few hours, they eat and drink and sing, sharing silly stories of their youth, and Olivia gradually finds herself relaxing and unwinding, actually participating in the singing and doing duets with each one of her colleagues; getting up the courage to sing a few songs herself after there is an acceptable amount of alcohol in her system. It feels wonderful to be so carefree; a much-needed break for all of them from the precinct, from the hellish hours they have been putting in lately. The only issue is the persistent cold that seems to have settled into the apartment for good, but they have been doing an adequate job of keeping warm with all of the high-energy singing and drinking.
Her good mood is suddenly broken when Fin lets out a stunned, "Oh, shit," from the balcony door.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asks with trepidation, twisting around on the couch to look at him.
He is standing by the door, holding the closed curtains back with one hand as he peers outside. "Uh, we appear to have gotten some snow over the past few hours," he replies with a tinge of awe in his tone.
Olivia gets up from the couch with a frown, hurrying over to the door with Amanda and Carisi right behind her.
"Uh oh, where the hell did our cars go?" Amanda laughs in surprise, pointing to the road below. "Look, they've disappeared."
Olivia stares down at the streets in disbelief, stunned that they have been so busy drinking and goofing off that they hadn't noticed how just bad the weather was getting. The cars below them are so covered in snow, they look like giant shapeless white mounds sticking up out of the ground, and the snow on the balcony is starting to pile up quite high against the door. A slight feeling of resentment curls through her as she realizes that her colleagues will likely be spending the night now, and her frown becomes deeper as she regards the vicious winds blowing the snow around in a white tornado, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from the week settling over her and wishing everyone was leaving soon.
"I thought the storm wasn't supposed to hit until sometime over the weekend," Olivia murmurs, trying not sound too disgruntled with the situation. "That's what all the weather stations have been saying. We were only supposed to get a light dusting tonight."
"Well, I think they were wrong," Carisi chuckles in amusement.
"Looks like this has turned into a sleepover party," Fin mutters, sounding less than enthused, but the others seem unperturbed by this turn of events, returning to the karaoke machine and picking out another song as they down more of the booze.
Since her team won't be returning home until at least the next day and the apartment is steadily becoming more frigid as the hours go on, Olivia tries several more times to get in touch with her superintendent despite the late hour, but doesn't have any success and finally gives up for the night, resolving to try again as soon as she gets up the next day.
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When the clock has ticked over from Friday night to Saturday morning and the hours continue to pass, the younger members of their group are still going strong, belting out song after song on the karaoke machine and slowing no signs of slowing down with the alcohol, and Olivia has to warn them more than once about the volume of their voices and the music as it gets later. She doesn't want any noise complaints from the neighbors, although it does briefly occur to her that she may finally be able to get her superintendent's attention if there are enough complaints called in to her.
She has been sipping steadily on wine all evening, creating a pleasant buzz in her system, but her co-workers have been mixing everything that has been brought to their little get together and they have become quite a bit more inebriated as the hours have passed. Fin has probably imbibed the most but he holds his liquor fairly well and has been acting more or less himself, but Amanda and Carisi are another story, both sloppy drunk, and they seem to be taking turns laughing hysterically with each other and then arguing quite heatedly about a variety of topics, Olivia just watching them and shaking her head slightly.
They are currently snarling back and forth at one another about some ridiculous reality TV show they both watch, but then abruptly end the argument when Fin switches to another song on the karaoke machine, raising the microphones to their lips and singing their hearts out, only to pick right back up where they had left off with their fight as soon as the song has ended.
"Oh, geez," Fin sighs, slumped onto the couch beside Olivia with Frannie's head resting in his lap, taking a sip from his bottle of beer. "Liv, I think it's time to put the young'uns to bed. My ears are ringing from all the off-key singing and fighting."
"You know we're not that young, Fin," Amanda points out, taking a break from her argument with Carisi to glance over at her partner.
"Yeah, you're just old," Carisi adds, and Amanda cackles with laughter before agreeing with him.
"I think we should all be going to bed now," Olivia says tiredly, getting to her feet. The room spins around her for a moment and she steadies herself on Fin's arm as he stands up beside her.
"You okay there, boss?" he asks with a hint of amusement in his voice, and Olivia nods, seeing the grins on Amanda and Carisi's faces.
"I'm fine," she replies, a little more curtly than she had intended. "We need to decide where everyone is going to sleep. There's a spare bedroom available." She looks over at Amanda, the blonde detective still clutching onto her microphone like she is ready to break into song again. "Amanda, I guess you can share with me."
She is not feeling enthused about the idea and figures that it shows on her face when the smaller woman frowns at her, looking slightly hurt. She is used to sleeping alone for the most part, and the other woman is ridiculously drunk at this point and she doesn't relish sharing a bed with her, but doesn't want any of her detectives sleeping on the floor.
"Well, you could show a little more enthusiasm, Liv," Amanda murmurs in an offended, pouty tone. "I don't have cooties, you know."
"Hey, don't complain about having to share with Amanda," Carisi pipes up. "You're the lucky one, Liv. I have to share with this guy," he adds, jerking a thumb in Fin's direction.
Fin regards the younger detective with raised eyebrows. "Uh, hell, no, Carisi, that's not happening. We're not sharing a bed. You're taking the couch." He points over to the piece of furniture that is currently covered in chip crumbs and still occupied by Frannie, who is twitching restlessly in her sleep.
"What? Why do I have to take the couch?" Carisi complains. "Why can't I have the bed in the spare room?"
"Because I'm an old man, as you so kindly pointed out earlier," Fin replies smugly. "Old men get beds. Younger men get couches."
Amanda laughs and Carisi gives her a shove before she shoves him back, and Olivia holds up her hand. "Alright, enough. It's late and I'm exhausted and I need to get under the covers before I freeze to death, so let's get a move on here. Fin and Carisi, I'm sorry, but I don't have anything you can wear for pajamas." She looks over at Amanda. "You can borrow something of mine, if you want, Amanda, so you don't have to sleep in your clothes." She gestures to the jeans and plaid shirt that the other woman is wearing and Amanda looks down at herself and shrugs.
"Oh, that's okay, Liv, I usually sleep naked," she says offhandedly, beginning to undo the buttons on her shirt.
"Whoa, hey there, how drunk are you?" Fin asks, his tone suddenly sharp as he reaches out to stop the small woman's movements. "You're not stripping in front of us and you're not sleeping naked in your boss' bed, got it? Pull yourself together, girl."
Amanda seems to realize what she had been about to do and blushes profusely, murmuring apologizes, and Olivia glares at Carisi when she sees the detective looking disappointed, muttering at him to get his mind out of the gutter.
She spends a few minutes getting the guys settled, trying the best she can to divide up every blanket in the apartment, the temperature feeling like it has continued to drop, before she and Amanda retire to her bedroom for the night, Frannie sneaking into the room just as she is shutting the door. She sighs but chooses not to say anything, and digs through her chest of drawers, trying to find something that she thinks will fit the smaller woman.
They get changed in silence and then climb into bed, burying themselves as deeply as they can under the covers, Frannie hopping up next to them. This time Olivia doesn't have the urge to complain, as the dog is providing extra warmth, and she finds herself moving closer to Amanda in the king-size bed, the temperature in the room seemingly colder than it was out in the living room, her fingers and toes feeling like they are starting to go numb. Amanda has gravitated toward her as well, shaking noticeably, and they huddle together while Olivia tries to keep her teeth from chattering.
"Liv," Amanda whispers a moment later. "Are you still awake?"
"Yes, I'm still awake, Amanda; we just went to bed," Olivia replies dryly.
"I'm really drunk," Amanda slurs and then hiccups loudly.
"Yeah, I'm a little drunk myself," Olivia says with a laugh.
"Can I tell you something?" Amanda whispers, her tone eager.
"Oooh, is it a secret?" Olivia whispers back, the alcohol and utter exhaustion from the past week of hard work mixing together to create a somewhat silly mood.
"Yes, a secret about my boss."
Olivia laughs again. "Amanda, I'm your boss," she reminds the drunk woman.
"Yeah, it's a secret about you, Liv."
"Well, if it's a secret about me, maybe you shouldn't be telling me," Olivia snickers, even though she has to admit that she is a little curious now.
"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway," Amanda says in a stage whisper. She leans closer to Olivia, cupping her hands over her mouth as she speaks. "Don't get mad at me, but I like you better when you've been drinking."
Olivia raises her eyebrows, unsure of whether or not to be offended by this revelation. "That's it? That's the secret?"
"Yeah," Amanda replies, her tone serious. "You're nicer when you're drinking, Liv. Like, you actually know how to have fun?" The blonde woman says this last sentence as a question, like she is surprised that Olivia is capable of participating in an activity outside of the job and is able to enjoy herself. "Maybe you should start bringing alcohol to the precinct."
This last sentence is also said in a tone that is dead serious and Olivia looks over at the other woman, Amanda staring back at her with an unfocused gaze, and she just shakes her head and laughs. "You know, I don't think that will be happening. I'm guessing I wouldn't have a job for long if I did that."
"Ugh, but work would be so much more fun, Liv," Amanda sighs in frustration. "You wouldn't be so mean to me all the time."
Olivia is frowning at her in surprise now, feeling a tendril of guilt curling through her alcohol-induced haze, but not sure why. "I'm mean to you?"
"Yeah, but it's okay," Amanda says offhandedly. "You're not mean now. Because you're drinking. Drinking is good, Liv. You're so nice right now."
"Um, thanks?" she finally says, the frown still fixed on her face.
"You're welcome," Amanda replies, grinning broadly at her, and Olivia can't help but smirk and roll her eyes, even if she feels a little hurt by the smaller woman's previous comment.
"Okay, let's try to get some sleep now," she says, closing her eyes and burying her face into the pillow.
"But I'm not tired, Liv, I'm bored," Amanda responds, a slight whine in her tone now. "I need to be entertained."
"Amanda, has anyone ever told you that you're a bit of an annoying, high-maintenance drunk?" Olivia sighs. "Not to mention a tad inappropriate?"
"Inappropriate?" Amanda snorts. "Just because I told you that you're mean? Liv, this is nothing. You should see me when I'm really drunk."
"You know, I'm not sure that's something I really want to see," Olivia chuckles tiredly, recalling the other woman's lack of inhibition when it came to getting ready for bed earlier. "Go to sleep, alright?"
The smaller woman is finally silent and Olivia sighs in relief, hoping to fall into slumber fairly quickly, but she is slowly becoming aware of the fact that the bed is shaking with the force of the other woman's shivering, the movement seemingly getting more violent by the minute, and she frowns over at her. "It's not that cold in here, Amanda. Are you alright?"
"I think I'm getting sick," Amanda moans. "But don't worry, I've been trying to kill whatever it is with all the alcohol."
Olivia rolls her eyes. "I don't think it works that way. And I'm so glad you're sharing my bed when you're sick," she adds sarcastically. "Another thing you neglected to mention until after the fact."
"I'm glad too, Liv," the blonde woman replies with a grin, obviously not picking up on the sarcasm.
Olivia shakes her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, feeling irritated with her colleague but can't help thinking that Amanda is being a little adorable right now, curled up beside her in the too-large pajamas, blonde hair mussed and a goofy, confused look on her face, as if she is not quite sure which emotion she is supposed to be feeling at the moment.
"Okay, it would be really nice if we could both get some sleep at some point tonight, so let's just settle down now," she suggests softly, feeling like she is dealing with a toddler who won't go to bed.
"Sure thing, Liv!" Amanda chirps, sounding ridiculously chipper for the wee hours of the morning and the amount of alcohol she has imbibed in, not to mention the fact that she now seems to be burdened with some kind of mystery illness.
Olivia blows out a breath and closes her eyes, hoping for some much-needed rest, but guessing correctly that it won't be silent for long.
"Liv, I'm colddddd," Amanda moans, a moment later. "And I'm hot. I'm hot and I'm cold. I don't like it."
"Amanda, you probably have a fever," Olivia replies. "But you can't take any medication for it until the morning. You've had too much to drink. I think you're just going to have to put up with it for now."
"I don't wanna put up with it," Amanda pouts, and before Olivia can respond, there is a knock at the door.
"Oh, geez," she mutters under her breath, before calling out to whomever it is to come in.
The door swings open and Carisi pokes his head into the room, still appearing quite inebriated and looking a little sheepish. "Hey, guys."
"Hello, Carisi," Olivia says tiredly. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"Well, yeah," he replies, sounding very hesitant. "It's so cold in the living room, I can't feel my hands and feet. I don't want to push the boundaries or anything, but..." he trails off, fixing Olivia with a pleading look.
"Carisi, Liv and I were having some girl time," Amanda says curtly. "She's being nice to me tonight. And you're interrupting us."
"Oh, don't start that again," Olivia mutters. "And we're not having girl time. We were trying to go to sleep."
"Sorry for interrupting," Carisi says guiltily, and Olivia can still detect a slight slur in his voice. "It's just so cold..."
"Carisi, be honest, okay? Why did you really come in here?" Amanda asks, her tone suggestive.
"Amanda," Olivia replies in a warning voice, realizing immediately where this conversation is heading.
"I'm thinking of a word that starts with a 'T' and end with a 'some'..." the blonde woman trails off.
"Amanda!" Olivia exclaims, biting down on a sudden laugh and chastising herself for being amused. She knows her sober self would be appalled by this discussion, but she finds herself on the verge of a full blown laugh attack and tries to reign herself in, unable to believe the audacity of her drunk colleague. "You are extremely inappropriate when you've been drinking!"
Carisi is standing there with a stricken look on his face now and his hands raised in the air as if he has done something wrong. "Liv, I swear that wasn't why I came in here. I'm just freezing to death, that's all."
"I know that, Carisi," Olivia sighs, rolling her eyes. "Just ignore her."
"Um, is it okay if I join you guys?" he asks, sounding extremely uncertain now as he gestures toward the bed. "If not, it's totally cool. I just don't think I've ever been this cold in my entire life, that's all."
"Yes, it's fine," Olivia sighs again, closing her eyes briefly and wondering if she will be able to get any sleep at all that night. "We wouldn't want you to freeze to death."
"God forbid Carisi gets a little chilly," Amanda teases and then bursts out laughing when his foot catches on the corner of the bed and he stumbles, practically falling into Frannie, who is curled up by Olivia's feet.
The dog gives an indignant howl before leaping off the bed and pacing around in the corner of the bedroom, and Olivia sees Amanda sit up straight under the covers next to her.
"Hey, don't hurt my dog," the blonde woman snaps, instantly switching from levity to anger, and she reaches over to lay a hand on her arm.
"It was an accident, Amanda," Olivia says softly. "Frannie is fine."
"Well, maybe if Carisi wouldn't drink so much..." Amanda mutters, trailing off, and Carisi snorts, stumbling once more as he tries yet again to climb into the bed with them.
"Oh, you're one to talk," Amanda," he sneers, yanking the blankets back more firmly than they need to be.
"You just watch those hands, Carisi," Amanda murmurs as he gets under the covers next to her.
"I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole, lady," he snarls, and Olivia feels the bed shake as Carisi turns over roughly onto his side to face away from them. "You're annoying as hell, you know that?"
"Alright, enough, you two," she groans. "Just try to get along, okay?"
"He started it," she hears Amanda whisper, and is about to snap back a response, prepared to chastise them both for acting like children, when there is another soft knock on the bedroom door.
"Hey, what's going on in here?" Fin says, poking his head into the room, and Olivia can see him squinting into the darkness, looking a little unsteady on his feet. "God, it's fucking freezing in this place."
"Fin? When did you get here?" Amanda asks in confusion.
"Oh, geez," Fin mutters. "I've been here the whole night, Amanda. I was just in the next room, but it's so damn cold, I can't sleep."
"Well, I certainly hope you didn't come in here for the same reason Carisi did," she murmurs.
"That reason was to get warm," Carisi snaps, still sounding annoyed. "And I'm pretty sure he did come in here for that reason. I can practically see my breath now."
"You might as well join us, Fin," Olivia says wearily, motioning for him to come all the way into the room.
"Oh, hell, no," Fin says with a groan, stepping inside and stopping dead in his tracks with his arms crossed over his chest when he sees them all lined up across the bed. "This is just wrong."
"Fin, it's a slumber party!" Amanda exclaims gleefully.
"Oh, please tell me we're not doing this," Fin mutters, although he climbs into the bed on the other side of Carisi as he speaks, and Olivia figures the cold must really be getting to him. "I'm so glad there's still enough booze swimming through my system to make this somewhat less disturbing." There is a brief pause. "Let's just get one thing straight, okay? This will never be spoken of again after tonight."
"What happens in Liv's bed stays in Liv's bed," Amanda snickers.
"There won't be anything happening in this bed expect sleep," Olivia replies firmly. She is starting to sober up very quickly now that she realizes she will likely be sharing a bed with three of her subordinates and one of their pets for the remainder of the night, as it is too cold for them to go back to their separate sleeping quarters. She just wants everyone to settle down, wishing there was a less awkward and inappropriate way to keep warm.
Carisi laughs. "And it's probably going to be spoken of tomorrow night too. I think we're going to be stuck here all weekend at least."
"Jesus," Olivia mutters, running her hands over her face.
"Liv, aren't you so glad you invited us all over?" Amanda says cheerily. "Imagine if you had to be all alone during this storm?"
"Yeah, imagine that," Olivia sighs.
It is quiet for a few minutes as everyone gets settled in, and then Amanda is giggling for no apparent reason and Olivia can feel Carisi shifting around restlessly, giving a sigh of annoyance, and can hear Fin muttering angrily to himself on the other side of the bed.
"Oh my god, will someone please shut her up?" he finally says, when the blonde woman shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. "What the hell is so damn funny, Amanda?"
"Liv, I'm drunk," the small detective says to her, either not hearing Fin's question or choosing to ignore him.
"Yes, I know you are," she says, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice. "I think that much is obvious, Amanda."
Carisi suddenly lets out a loud burp, apologizing profusely afterwards with Fin snapping at him to grow up, and Amanda can't seem to get a hold of herself now, the giggling out of control.
Olivia is exhausted and cranky and feeling quite cramped in the bed, even though she has to admit that there is finally some warmth flowing through her limbs now, but Amanda's constant laughter and chatter is starting to grate on her nerves and all she wants is for there to be silence in the room. "Okay, Amanda, can we take it down to a dull roar now?" she asks, trying not to let her irritation show. "Everyone is tired and we need to get some sleep."
It is quiet for a moment and then she hears a slight sniffle from the woman beside her. "What's the matter?"
"You hurt my feelings," Amanda whimpers.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Olivia mutters in exasperation.
"Oh, man," Carisi laughs. "I didn't know you were an emotional drunk, Amanda."
"I'm not emotional," she whines.
"Are you gonna cry about it?" he teases.
"Ugh, seriously, I am way too old for this shit," Fin grumbles.
"Alright, everyone, enough!" Olivia explodes, feeling like the last thread of her patience is about to snap. "We are all way too old for this shit. Fin, if you're so annoyed with everyone, then go back to the spare bedroom. Carisi, stop teasing Amanda, and Amanda, you're not allowed to cry just because I'm asking you to be quiet. Honestly," she mutters in exasperation. "How did a nice evening with my colleagues to unwind and relax from work turn into this?"
Everyone is completely silent for a moment before Amanda lets out a small chuckle that soon increases into more full-blown laughter.
"Amanda, if you don't be quiet, I'm going to pick you up and carry you out to the balcony and you can sleep in the snow," Fin warns.
"Ooh, we can have a snowball fight!" Amanda exclaims with enthusiasm.
"It's three o'clock in the morning, Amanda," Olivia groans. "We're not having a damn snowball fight. Are you always this childish and obnoxious when you're drunk?"
"Yes," Amanda responds seriously, and Olivia can't help the sudden snort of laughter that escapes her. That's all it takes to get the smaller woman going again, giggling so hard that she is shaking the bed once more.
"You're such a moody drunk, Mandy," Carisi whispers. "Crying one second and laughing the next."
"Don't call me Mandy, Sonny."
"Oh my god, I'm in hell," Fin groans.
Olivia turns away in frustration and finds herself face to face with Frannie who is now sitting on the floor beside the bed, the dog leaning forward to swipe a warm, wet tongue over her face. "Ugh," she moans in disgust, gently pushing the animal away from her.
She feels the bed shift slightly next to her and then Amanda's knobby knees are digging into her back, the other woman snuggled up closely behind her.
"Liv," she hears her whisper urgently, and closes her eyes, stifling a groan of exhaustion and impatience.
"What is it, Amanda?"
"Are you mad at me?"
"For what?
"For being so loud."
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Are you really sure?"
"Amanda!"
"Amanda, shut the hell up now," Fin snaps, his tone stern with no room for argument.
Olivia hears the smaller woman sniffle again, and rolls her eyes, but can't help feeling a sliver of sympathy for her colleague who is very drunk and most likely getting sick and seems to be unable to control her emotions. She rolls over in the bed so they are face to face, the small blonde staring at her with sad blue eyes, wide and shining with a sheen of tears, and she can't help reaching out to smooth a hand across the detective's warm forehead.
"Just go to sleep, Amanda," she says gently. "No one is mad at you, okay?"
"Speak for yourself," she hears Fin mutter from the other side of the bed, and Carisi murmurs his agreement.
Olivia resists the urge to roll her eyes again and expects Amanda to get upset once more, but the younger woman's eyes are drooping closed as she continues to stroke a hand over her forehead, a little concerned with how warm the blonde detective feels when the rest of the them are still freezing and it is now cold enough in the room that she can see her breath in the air when she exhales.
She pulls the covers up to her chin, actually relieved when Frannie leaps back onto the bed and settles in down by her feet, creating some more heat. She closes her eyes, the room finally quiet now as everyone begins dropping off to sleep, and she hopes the next day will bring some relief from the cold and a way out of this apartment that they are all now trapped in together.
Amanda suddenly jerks in her sleep, a hand flailing upwards to swipe across Olivia's face, and she winces as she is grazed by the other woman's fingernails, cupping a hand over her watering eye and wondering if this night is ever going to end.