A/N: Fluff. Good ol' conference fluff. Usual disclaimer. I will never own them, but I will continue to love them. And drool over them. But either way…

"Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?

Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?

It's inevitable

It's a fact that we're gonna get down to it

So tell me

Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?"

Ryan woke slowly the next morning, arching his back and yawning widely. Rolling over, he whispered to Greg's sleeping form next to him, "Greg, time to get up."

"No," murmured Greg sleepily, tightening his grip on Ryan and burrowing his head deeper into his pillow. "Five more minutes,' he pleaded in muffled tones.

Ryan laughed gently and sat up, prying Greg's arms off of him. "I wish I could give you five more minutes, but if we don't hurry up, we're going to miss the first seminar."

He got out of bed, ignoring Greg, who muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Hang the goddamn seminar", and made a beeline for the coffee machine. "Don't you dare," called Greg sleepily from the bed. Yawning widely, he rolled out of bed and stretched languidly before stumbling over to his duffel bag, pulling out a bag of coffee and tossing it to Ryan. "Make this. Blue Hawaiian. Good stuff," he said in cavemanesque syllables before collapsing back onto the bed.

Ryan hid a smile and opened the bag, inhaling the deep, fragrant aroma. "Mm…" he said. "This smells good." He looked quizzically at Greg. "What type of coffee did you say this was?"

"Just. Make. Coffee," growled Greg, covering his face with his pillow and snuggling deeper into his blanket.

"Alright, alright," said Ryan with a laugh. A few minutes later, the coffee pot brimmed full with the dark liquid.

Greg staggered out of bed again and over to the sink, rummaging for a coffee mug. He thrust blindly at Ryan, silently pleading for his liquid awakening. Ryan tried not to laugh as he filled Greg's cup. Smiling happily, Greg drained his mug and held it out for more. "Hold on!" exclaimed Ryan, filling his own cup. "I haven't even had any yet and you're already wanting seconds."

"Sorry," muttered Greg sheepishly, shifting his weight uncomfortably as he waited for Ryan to finish.

Ryan took a sip of his coffee. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "This coffee is absolutely amazing!"

"Told you so," muttered Greg as he held his mug again. Ryan obligingly filled it, and Greg drank deeply, smile spreading over his sleepy features. "Thank you."

Ryan hid a smile. "You're welcome. I'm gonna go shower while you wake up the rest of the way."

"I'm awake!" groaned Greg. He raised one eyebrow at Ryan. "Am I invited to shower with you this morning?"

"As much as I would undoubtedly enjoy that," said Ryan, sharing a grin with Greg, "we really do have to get to that seminar today, and I have a sneaking suspicion that we would not get much showering done."

"True," agreed Greg as he stretched. "You go ahead and shower while I order us some breakfast."

"Room service?" asked Ryan. "Who do you expect to pay for that? Hopefully not me; God knows my last paycheck barely covered my bills."

"Relax," said Greg with a grin. "The room is charged to our respective PDs, right? So let them pay for it."

"Greg! We can't do that," hissed Ryan. "Do you know how much trouble I would get in if I did that?"

"Chill, man, you won't get in any trouble. Chances are they won't even check the bill, they'll just sign it." He gave Ryan a devilish smile. "Besides, if we have to be here, why not enjoy it while we can?"

"Alright," allowed Ryan, a small smile tugging at his lips. "But if we get caught, you're taking the fall." He turned back to the bathroom, then paused. "Make sure they send up hash browns."

"Oh, I will," grinned Greg, already dialing the phone. Ryan smiled as well before heading into the bathroom to shower.

After Ryan and Greg had showered, dressed and eaten, they headed down together to the seminar. Luckily, all the seminars for the conference were in the same hotel that they were staying in. Of course, they were down in the exhibition halls, which were below street level, so it took awhile getting there, but once they arrived, they sat down in two of the folding chairs provided.

Greg poked Ryan in the side. "What do you think we'll be doing today?" he asked loudly.

Ryan winced. "Lower your voice, would you?" he hissed. "Jesus Christ! Someone would think you were yelling across a freaking football field." He glared at Greg. "Didn't you pick up one of these handy-dandy little packets that give you the schedule for every day that we're here?"

"No," said Greg, lowering his voice by maybe half a decibel. "If I had one, I wouldn't be asking what we're doing today, now would I?" He sighed loudly. "Would you please tell me what we're doing today?" he pleaded, brown eyes pouting at Ryan.

Ryan relented with a sigh of his own. "Fine…today, we're doing team-building activities." He raised an eyebrow at Greg. "Wow, that sounds thrilling," he said dryly.

"Hey, it could be fun!" Greg gave Ryan a shy smile. "If we get to do a partner activity, do you want to be my partner?"

"Well, I dunno…" said Ryan jokingly. Greg's smile faltered slightly. "Of course I'll be your partner," said Ryan gently, nudging Greg amicably with his shoulder.

Greg grinned a giant grin that stretched from ear to ear. "Cool," he said, trying his hardest not to sound too excited.

"Greggo, you're weird," said Ryan, but he was smiling as well by now.

"I know," said Greg cheerfully, thoroughly comfortable with his weirdness. His expression softened when he looked over at Ryan. "It's just that this is all so new for me, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," said Ryan, squeezing Greg's hand gently. "I know."

By this time, the rest of the attendees had straggled in and taken their seats. A far-too-cheerful-looking woman stood and beamed at them all. "Good morning!" she chirped. "I hope you're all enjoying your stay thus far in the Windy City. I'm Cindy Perkins, a PR rep from the Chicago Police Department, and may I just say, we are thrilled to have you!" She chattered on about something or another for several minutes.

Ryan rolled his eyes at Greg. "Kill me now, please," he muttered, raising his arms above his head to stretch.

"Excellent!" announced the lady from the front. "We have our first volunteer!" She smiled expectantly at Ryan, who paled visibly.

"Greg," he hissed, "what did I just volunteer for?"

"You get to pick a partner and do one of those trust falls," whispered Greg, eyes twinkling. "And, since you already said I was your partner, I promise I won't drop you."

"Oh Jesus," muttered Ryan as he and Greg stood up and walked to the front of the room. Greg took a handkerchief from the lady and, winking at Ryan, tied it over Ryan's eyes.

Ryan tried to ignore the brief feeling of panic that welled in the pit of his stomach as the darkness enveloped him. "Greg?" he hissed, unable to keep some of the panic out of his voice. "Greg!"

"Shh, it's ok," whispered Greg's voice reassuringly in Ryan's ear. "I'm right here, ok? I'm right here and I'm not moving. Just relax, ok? Just relax."

Ryan took a deep breath and nodded, Greg's voice still murmuring soothingly in his ear. Taking a moment, he relaxed and then dropped backwards. He only fell for a tiny bit before his felt Greg's reassuring arms catch him.

"Excellent!" exclaimed the lady excitedly, coming over to them as Greg helped Ryan take the blindfold off. She beamed at them. "I see you two have a real bond. Are you friends?"

Greg caught Ryan's eye and coughed, trying hard not to laugh. Ryan gave him a dirty look before clearing his throat and saying, "I guess you could say that."

"Good!" she said, still beaming at them. "It's so wonderful to see two strangers become friends here."

"Yeah," muttered Greg in Ryan's ear, hand slipping down to rest lightly on Ryan's ass. "It's wonderful to become friends."

Ryan elbowed him sharply in the stomach before turning back to the leader and smiling tightly. "Oh yeah, making friends is a blast."

She smiled at them once more before saying, "Well, take your seats, take your seats! More people need to do the trust fall."

"Yeah, Greg, let's take our seats," said Ryan pointedly, taking Greg's arm and practically marching him back to their seats. "What the hell was that, Greg?" he hissed, sitting next to him. "I thought you didn't want everyone to know we're…we're…doing whatever we're doing."

"Chill, man," said Greg calmly, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "Not only does no one know anything, but even if they did, no one cares! No one knows who we are! And may I just say, it's awesome." He looked at Ryan concernedly. "But if you don't want to act like we're…you know, whatever, then that's ok, too."

"I do want to," said Ryan gently, squeezing his hand back. "I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with this…with us."

"Oh, I am," grinned Greg, slinging a casual arm around Ryan's shoulders. "I'm extremely comfortable with this."

"Good," said Ryan, looking up at him and smiling a huge smile. "Good." He lay his head against Greg's shoulder. "Thanks for catching me, by the way."

"Anytime," said Greg, smiling down at Ryan. "Anytime."