2: A Problem Shared...
Josh spent most of that afternoon collapsing into sudden fits of the giggles. He really ought to stop now; Donna was looking at him very suspiciously. But every time he thought he'd got it under control, he remembered the miserable expression on Sam's face as he blurted out the details.
Sam got bit by a girl! I love it.
Unfortunately, CJ was quick to notice his change of mood. "Okay, Joshua. What gives?"
"Huh?" He schooled his face into his most innocent look, the one that women adored. "Oh, nothing."
"Yeah, right. Tell me," she ordered.
Dammit. He'd forgotten that all his foolproof looks never worked on CJ.
"Look, it's just... it's really nothing." He rather spoilt that by giggling a little in the middle. Wait, giggling? That wasn't a giggle, it was a chuckle. Giggling is not manly.
CJ was getting her 'boy are you stupid face'. "What have you and Donna been up to now?"
"Me and Donna?" he retorted indignantly. "We haven't been 'up to' anything!"
Nothing at all. Nothing going on there. Definitely. Certainly.
Probably.
Okay, there'd been a couple of... moments during the stressful time of Donna's brief employment as vampire Slayer. And maybe things had been a little more... cosy between them since. And maybe they hugged or touched each others' hands a little bit more often than they used to. But there was definitely nothing going on. No blurring of the lines there. And certainly nothing for CJ to get wound up about.
Even if it was at all any of her business, which it isn't.
"Then what?" CJ wasn't going anywhere until she got an answer.
He didn't really mind. This was just too delicious to keep to himself. "It's Sam," he smirked.
"Oh, God." CJ clapped a hand to her forehead, in preparation for a monster headache. "Oh, God, don't even tell me. I don't even want to know."
"No, this is great. He met this girl last night-"
"Oh God!" CJ thumped her head against her desk. "What was this one?" she asked hopelessly.
"Nothing that'll end up in the papers," Josh assured her. "Just a little, well... kinky." He could feel those giggles - no, manly chuckles - threatening to escape again.
CJ's depression was slowly being replaced by bemusement. "Kinky?" she raised an eyebrow.
Josh was grinning and nodding like an idiot. "Apparently, in the... ahem, 'throes of passion', she, uh... bit him. On the shoulder."
CJ looked disbelieving, then started to grin too. "She bit him? Sam's girlfriend bit him?" Josh nodded fervently. Then CJ frowned. "This girl... she wasn't like, a vampire or anything?"
"Nope. Not according to Sam. Just the regular kind."
"And she bit him?"
"Yup." CJ had her devilish face on now as she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Where are you going?" asked Josh.
She grinned dangerously. "Oh, I thought I'd mosey on down to communications and have a word with the Deputy Communications Director."
Josh stood up and followed. "You know, I think I might just come with you."
This was gonna be fun.
"Can you keep it down out there?" Sam shouted to the bullpen from his office doorway. Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Hey, look who's channelling Toby."
Toby had gone off with the president and Leo, and Sam was alone in his office, supposedly working on the draft of a statement about corn crops in some out-of-the-way place. Supposedly, because he still couldn't concentrate. Although it was beginning to cool off as the afternoon wore on, he was feeling increasingly hot and sweaty.
Feverish, even. Yes, he felt feverish.
Oh, God. Can you catch rabies from a human? Or some kind of mutant flu? Or-
He was really regretting all this attention he'd paid to dental hygiene in the past. Sure, it might have given him a winning smile, but he could also recall all the statistics about the number of diseases that bred inside the human mouth.
Sam whimpered, and dropped his head onto the crumpled and crossed-out draft of his speech.
There was no relief to be had, however. As a twinge in his shoulder encouraged him to sit up, he spied Josh and CJ moving in on him. Both grinning widely...
Oh great. This is gonna be fun.