Get Your Shine On
"Baby get your shine on!
Cause you and me be rocking all night long!
Summer sky drippin' rhinestones,
Turn your party lights on,
Baby get your shine on - shine on!
Baby get your shine on!" – Florida Georgia Line
Bright sunlight streamed into Greg's office as he typed up the latest batch of paperwork that found itself on his desk. He positioned himself so that he could avoid the glaring light bouncing off the monitor. It had been a slow morning, and no new cases had arrived yet—luckily or unluckily, he wasn't quite sure—and so he found himself looking at the clock on the corner of his screen after every bout of writing he finished.
With a final flurry of fingers over the keyboard, he finally saved and closed the document he had been working on before standing and stretching. After checking his watch and deeming it a suitable time to go for lunch, he grabbed his phone and told his team he would be back in an hour. Greg made his way out of the building and into the blazing sun that was unnatural for early April. Squinting against the bright day he quickly tapped at his phone before holding it to his ear.
The call was answered almost simultaneously. "Good afternoon, Gregory."
"Afternoon, Mycroft. Fancy meeting up for lunch?"
"Alright, I have no other plans that could get in the way. Where shall we meet?"
"How about the park? Same distance for us both and it's a gorgeous day."
"It would be nice to enjoy such lovely weather, especially during this time of year. I take it we will be picking up lunch on the way?"
"Yeah, I'll get us coffee if you'd like? There's a great place near Scotland Yard."
"Ah yes, they do wonderful cappuccinos."
"I'll pick one up for you. Do you take sugar?"
"I take it without, thank you. I can be with you in fifteen minutes."
"Great, I'll see you soon!"
"Until then, Gregory."
The call ended and Greg quickly headed to the nearby deli. He procured himself a sandwich, a packet of crisps, and a coke for later before heading to the coffee shop to get a cappuccino for Mycroft and a flat white for himself. After the food was in order he headed off to the arranged meeting place.
The park was average sized with paved paths for pedestrians or cyclists, and benches were dotted along the route. Although it was sometimes hard to distinguish people clearly, the flatness of the terrain made it easy to pick out where someone was should they need to be found.
The DI soon found an empty bench shaded by a large tree, the blossoms clinging on to the branches as the leaves prepared to break through. He had been there no more than five minutes when he saw the approaching figure of his soulmate, impeccably dressed as always swinging his umbrella in one hand and holding the handles of a sturdy paper bag in another. The bag swayed gently in his slackened grip.
"Hey," Greg greeted warmly, sending the younger man a smile.
"Good afternoon." Mycroft sat on the bench beside him, setting his bag between himself and his waiting cup of coffee and propping his umbrella up next to him. He then extracted a freshly made turkey breast salad from the bag whilst Greg pulled out his ham sandwich.
"That looks great," the DI said as he pulled the cling wrap off the top of his sandwich.
"It is. My assistant ordered it from a restaurant who have made my lunch in the past. The owner owes me a favour," Mycroft replied, picking up a plastic fork.
Greg huffed a laugh. "You Holmes' and people owing you favours. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire population of London was indebted to you two."
"I wouldn't say the entire population... Perhaps the entirety of some populations that can be found within London, yes." He took a bite from his fork.
"And which populations would those be?"
Mycroft finished his mouthful and shot the man a knowing look. "Anyone who has ever needed our assistance, knowingly or not."
Greg shrugged. "That's true. I guess I'm included in that population?"
"You are, but you owe me less and continue to repay Sherlock."
"How so?"
"You consistently provide cases to keep him busy and less likely to pester me, and you repay him every time he solves a case by giving him a new one when there are none coming from private clients."
Greg shrugged again. "He's the best we have, even if he isn't officially part of the force. Without him, we'd have more cold cases and take at least a week longer to solve the cases that we could solve." Mycroft nodded slowly, chewing on his mouthful of salad as Greg spoke again. "So, how has your mornin' been?"
"Slow, I have a meeting this afternoon I have been preparing for. Yours?"
"Same, just been typin' up paperwork. Got more to be done when I go back." Greg took a sip of his coffee. The temperature of the drink was perfectly in-between scalding hot and warm.
Mycroft pulled his phone out and began rapidly tapping on the screen. "That sounds rather mundane. Could you not have Donovan do it?"
"She has her own stack to be gettin' on with. Besides, I don't like pilin' all the crappy jobs on my team just because I can. If I can do it myself then why shouldn't I?"
"You're a far better leader in that sense than I am. Then again, I have more important things to take care of most of the time."
"Like stoppin' World War Three from breakin' out," Greg chuckled with a shake of his head.
Mycroft merely smiled at the comment before turning his attention to his lunch. Greg mimicked, and the two enjoyed the relative peace and quiet in the park.
"This is nice," Greg stated, leaning back on the bench. "Good company, a nice lunch, and lovely weather. What more could you want?"
"A cold glass of brandy and a good book?"
"Within reasonable expectations, Mycroft. I'm sure it wouldn't be wise for you to drink on your lunch break."
"I know, but one can dream," Mycroft sighed, leaning back on the bench as his eyes lazily scanned the area in front of them. The two fell into a comfortable silence, sipping at their coffees and making light work of the remainder of their lunches.
Greg was the first to finish, balling up the cling wrap as he chewed his last mouthful before tossing it in the bag with the crisps and coke. He leant back, tilting his head toward the sky and closed his eyes with a content sigh. "Think I can come up with an excuse to get out of work for the rest of the afternoon? I don't think I can bring myself to do paperwork anymore."
"You need to get it done, Gregory, it won't do itself," Mycroft answered simply, setting his fork in the container and closing it. He placed the mostly empty box in the paper bag before finishing his coffee and tossing the cup in as well. He then rose, collecting his umbrella from beside him. "Thank you for inviting me to join you, Gregory. It was nice to actually leave the office for something unrelated to work."
"My pleasure, thank you for keeping me company." Greg rose as well with a stretch. "I'll see you soon?"
"If you would like to."
"Of course, I do."
A thick silence hung over them for a long moment before Mycroft spoke up. "I'm sure we can arrange another meeting for the near future."
"Great," Greg grinned, "I'll talk to you soon."
The younger man began to walk away, "Until then, Gregory."
"Until then, Mycroft!" the DI called after him, watching his retreating form for a few moments before turning and making his way back to New Scotland Yard.
He arrived back with time to spare, and so he took his time making a coffee in the break room before heading back to his office. Upon entering, he found the pile of paperwork that had been there earlier had disappeared, and his desk looking the cleanest it had all week. Curious, he made his way down the corridor and knocked on Sally's open door.
She looked up from her computer. "Everythin' alright, boss?"
"Yeah, d'you know what happened to the paperwork that was on my desk?"
"No idea, mine's disappeared too. It was here when I went to make coffee about fifteen minutes ago, then when I came back it was gone. It's appearin' on the system, though."
Greg smiled suddenly, pulling his phone out of his pocket, "OK."
She furrowed her eyebrows, a small smirk playing on her lips, "Do you think this has somethin' to do with Mr Soulmate?"
"I can only guess. I mentioned it to him when we were havin' lunch," he answered as he tapped out a message.
To: Mycroft
'So, the paperwork that was on mine and Donovan's desks has mysteriously disappeared but is appearing on the system...'
"Well isn't that nice of him?" Sally said. "What do we do now?"
"I don't care, the boss isn't here so it's not like we have to pretend we're workin'. Catch up on some TV or somethin', just shut the door and keep the volume down."
"Sounds like a plan to me," she grinned, turning her attention to her computer screen as she tapped away at the keyboard.
"Have fun, Donovan," he chuckled before leaving, closing the door quietly behind him. As he was walking back to his office, his phone alerted him to a newly received message.
From: Mycroft
'Very strange, perhaps one of your officers decided to take it off your hands?
MH'
Greg smirked as he typed his reply, kicking his office door shut as he walked in.
To: Mycroft
'Hmm, perhaps... :P
Thank you :)'
Once the message was sent he logged into his computer and opened a new browser before kicking back in his chair to enjoy the latest Match of the Day.
AN: Many thanks as always to my wonderful, brilliant beta ljgryphon! It's her hard work that makes this fic so much better!
