Danny spent nearly every waking moment by Nicholas Angel's side but he wanted more. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for what he had, he was just beginning to think that all the time in the world may not be enough to spend with his own personal action hero. As much as he wanted to ask for more time, it wasn't until the day they pulled over Martin Blower that he finally worked up the courage. After work, he would ask Angel out to the pub ... as friends (ya, friends). After all, it would be nice to not drink alone. Angel refused crisply with the excuse of having to water his Peace Lily, which Danny suspected was all bollocks. Even the thirstiest plant wouldn't notice the difference of a few hours. He let it slide, trying not to feel too disappointed about it. Resigned to another evening alone but unwilling to leave Angel ... Nicholas just yet, Danny walked out with him.

"Oi, you two!" One of the Sergeant Turners stopped them just as Nicholas' hand was on the outer door. "Mr. Blower left these for you by way of apology," He continued as he produced two tickets for Romeo and Juliet for that evening.

"Yes, well, seeing as we cannot accept gifts from someone we have officially reprimanded..." Nicholas said as he took the two tickets and pointedly tore them in half. He looked so cool doing it Danny couldn't help but giggle like an excited fan boy behind him. As if on cue, Frank appeared at the inner door.

"Oh Nicholas! I'm glad I caught you. I was wondering if you would represent us at the theater tonight."

"Yes sir," Nicholas promptly responded but he seemed to wilt a little as he did.

"And there's a spare for Danny too," Frank added, smoothly sliding a second ticket out from behind the first. Danny pretended he had only imagined the second droop in Nicholas' shoulders.

To say the play was bad would be an insult to bad plays everywhere. There were plenty of bad plays who still managed to keep their self respect, thank you very much. The parts of this play that did not cause actual, physical pain would have been laughable if they had not been so sad. The whole bloody charade, from start to finish, was simply impossible to take seriously. Not even by a Sergeant who seemed to live to take everything seriously. At least, that was the theory Danny had as he watched the classic die a grizzly death at the hands of Martin Blower and Eve Draper.

Danny had wanted to spend the evening with Nicholas but being tortured had not been what he had in mind. He gave up actually watching about half way through and instead made a game of catching glimpses of Nicholas' face as it morphed through phases of boredom, disgust, and grimaces of pain. He was right that the, um, 'play' was impossible to take seriously but Nicholas was giving it a valiant effort. He suspected that the only thing keeping Nicholas in his seat was his unyielding sense of duty to the Inspector. He was asked to represent and damn it, he was going to do it.

When it was finally over, Danny couldn't tell if Nicholas was more relieved or exhausted. Whichever it was didn't really matter, just that he seemed to be a little more relaxed than usual. At least, he wasn't glaring at anyone anymore. During the after-party, the looks he gave Danny were much softer, almost affectionate. Danny was elated at the change. It really felt like they were becoming friends finally.

Nicholas was not enjoying the party, that much Danny could tell, but he bore it with a tired grace and left to walk home with Danny when the festivities began to wind down. They hadn't gone ten steps when Blower saw and called out to them.

"Oh officers, I want to thank you again for coming and once more offer my most sincere apologies for earlier."

"That's quite alright," Nicholas said before adding with a smirk. "Drive safe," Once again, Danny was in awe. It was the most perfect one-liner he'd ever heard outside of his beloved films. Internally (and maybe a little externally too) he squealed with delight. Nicholas noticed but wasn't put off by it. Instead, he looked at Danny with real tenderness sparkling in his clear but tired eyes. It's a perfect moment that does strange things to Danny's stomach and and tightens his chest. Too bad it only lasted a second before Danny ruined it.

"You know that's the bloke we stopped for speeding earlier?"

To Danny's great relief, Nicholas was amused by his stupid outburst. He chuckled lightly.

"Yes, I do," Danny giggled and Nicholas laughed softly with him. "I do believe that is the last we are going to see of him."

The rest of the walk home was uneventful but Danny enjoyed every second of it. What he liked most was the satisfying feeling of companionship that was forming between them. It is still a long way from what Danny would like (and he wasn't entirely sure what he'd like them to be but he'd figure that part out later) but having made this much progress made him feel so giddy he could hardly walk straight.

Long before Danny finished enjoying himself, they had arrived at the Swan Hotel. As loath as he was to part with Nicholas, he knew he must. He had had a lovely evening in spite of the play being awful and he would see Nicholas in the morning. Still, when Nicholas wished him a goodnight and disappeared into the hotel, the night felt just a little bit colder, the distance to his flat just a little bit further, and the evening at home just a little bit more lonely. But Danny had the warm glow of Nicholas' affectionate gaze in the forefront of his mind to tide him over 'till morning and he fell asleep with a smile.