drabble; not even a little bit
fandom: law & order: svu
pairing: (platonic?) rafael barba/olivia benson
word count: 747 words
begin
Liv sips her coffee and looks at her watch. It's nearly eight-forty-five, and there's still no sign of Barba at their favourite takeaway coffee place outside the courthouse. Taking out a phone, she types a quick message to him.
Where are you?
His reply pings back a minute later. Sorry, am in a meeting with the DA. Got dragged in at eight. He's still rambling.
She snickers, and replies him with a smirking emoji. She slips her phone back into her coat pocket, drains her coffee and heads towards the precinct.
It's ten in the morning, and somehow Liv is finding it hard to concentrate. She picks up her phone and looks at it. There's a notification that she has unread emails, a weather alert, but no new messages. She scrolls to Barba's name.
Still in the meeting?
Her phone lights up after two minutes.
Yes. Dying.
She smiles to herself, and chooses not to taunt him. Instead, she slips on her glasses, and tries to focus her attention on a case instead.
Carisi raps on her office door, and pokes his head in. "Lieu, we're going to head out for lunch at Ben's in five minutes, do you want to come with us?"
She glances at the clock on her wall, it's almost one o'clock, and certainly time for lunch. "Sure. I'll come out in a minute."
She locates her phone among the mess of papers on her desk, and unlocks it, tapping rapidly.
Lunch with the squad at Ben's in fifteen.
This time, his reply is almost instantaneous.
Sorry, on my way to an urgent inquiry. Wish I could go though, all I had for lunch was some rather questionable pasta that I am not exactly sure is fit to be consumed.
"Liv? Ready to go?"
Amanda looks at her through the opened office door. She's got her coat on, and so does Carisi and Fin.
Liv looks at her phone, where Barba's message is still lighted up on the screen. "On second thought…you guys go ahead. I think I'll catch up a couple of case files. Can you get me a sandwich?"
She reviews her email, eyes scanning through keenly. Satisfied, she signs her name, and sends the email to Chief Dodds. Leaning back and massaging her neck with one hand, Liv idly picks up her phone. There's a text from Lucy, saying that she's picked up Noah from day care, and will take him to a cartoon at the movies as promised.
She quickly types a note of thanks to Lucy, and then frowns a little, seeing no messages from Barba.
Poisoned by the pasta, Barba? Are you still alive?
She waits, but no reply comes through, so she tosses her phone on her desk, and tries to concentrate on work. She's finishing an e-mail (work related) to Melinda when her phone pings.
I'm alive, sorry to disappoint you. Still in court, jury selection. Defense attorney is an idiotic asshole.
She laughs, she can just imagine that utterly dissatisfied look on Barba's face that surfaces whenever he's faced with someone significantly less intelligent than he is.
It's six o'clock, and she's packing up to go home. It has been a relatively stress day, but somehow she's feeling restless, and a bit out of sorts, like she's missing something. But she can't really place it.
Shrugging her coat on, she picks up her bag with one hand, as she types a quick message with her other hand. With her eyes trained on her phone, she doesn't see Barba coming in, and promptly collides into him.
"Whoa!" He reaches out and grabs her upper arm, steadying her.
"Thanks," she mutters, regaining her balance. She looks at him, albeit surprised. "What're you doing here, Barba?"
"Well, you haven't seen me all day, so I thought I'll grace you with my presence," he drawls.
Liv rolls her eyes. "I'm truly honoured."
Barba bumps her shoulder with his as they walk out together. "Come on, you know you miss me."
Her step falters, for just a second, but she recovers quickly, and snorts. "Not even a little bit."
"Really? That's too bad, because I miss you," he says, his tone offhanded as he swings his briefcase.
Liv stops walking, and stares at him. He looks back at her, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smile.
"So…dinner?"
She smiles back at him, and catches up to him, matching him step for step. "Sure."
end
