A/N: Yes, another Peter/Neal buddy banter chapter. You know you love them. At least, I know I do.

Peter looked out his office window, sighing. He took a drink of his coffee and nearly choked on it as Neal suddenly popped up behind him.

"Morning!" The consultant sounded cheerful. Peter swallowed the hot beverage and turned to face Neal with a reproving look.

"Don't do that," he said. Neal got a funny look on his face, head tilting slightly to one side.

"What's wrong with your voice?" He asked.

"Nothing," Peter said defensively. He pushed his chair back to the desk.

"Then why do you sound funny?" Neal persisted, sitting down across from him.

"I just have a frog in my throat. It's nothing," Peter said flatly. Neal nodded slowly.

"If you say so." He shrugged. Peter continued what he'd originally been working on and looked up when he noticed how quiet Neal was. The man's eyes held his thinking about something look. Usually that meant trouble for Peter.

Peter gave him a look and Neal shrugged.

"I was just wondering how that started," Neal said innocently. "The 'frog in your throat' expression."

"Sure," Peter said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Really," Neal insisted. "I like to know these sorts of things."

"Well, I don't," Peter said, giving Neal a raised eyebrow. "Now take this stack of paperwork down to the computer and enter the data."

"Yes, O Croaky One," Neal said with a teasing grin. Peter gave him a mock-glare and Neal took the paperwork with a long-suffering sigh. Peter watched him go to sit down at the desk and start typing. Peter kept working on his own data entry, glancing at Neal from time to time.

One of these times Neal caught Peter looking and made a very pitiful face. Peter just shook his head, waiting until Neal looked away to grin. Neal finished more quickly than Peter would've expected, and walked back into Peter's office.

He set the paperwork down on the desk and Peter looked up. Neal's face was a puzzling mixture of disgust and triumph.

"What?" Peter asked. Neal sat down and the strange expression remained.

"I found out how the saying started," the ex-con said.

"You did?" Peter asked surprisedly, raising one eyebrow. Only Neal...

"Yeah," Neal said, swiveling in his chair silently. Peter knew was he was doing. He refused to feel curious.

Neal remained quiet, looking nonchalant as he doodled on a sticky note. Peter glanced over and Neal moved it back slightly with a raised eyebrow. He continued wordless waiting, and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine," Peter said. "How did it start?"

Neal gave him a dazzling grin, then the slightly disgusted look returned. "In medieval times, the doctors thought that putting a frog in your mouth could cure a cough because of the secretions." Peter grimaced.

"Oh," Peter said. "That's... gross."

"Yep," Neal agreed. "But now I know."

"Feel better now?" Peter asked drily.

"Much," Neal said with a nod, ignoring the sarcasm. "Too bad I don't have a frog, though."

"It's such a shame," Peter agreed with mock-sympathy.

"Ah, well," Neal said, shrugging and standing up. "Maybe food will help. Want to go get lunch, Your Croakiness?"

"Sure," Peter said. "But stop with the frog jokes."

"If it makes you hoppy," Neal said, then winced. "Okay, that one was really bad."

"It was," Peter agreed with a grin. "You done?"

"Yeah," Neal said sheepishly. "The moment has passed."

"I'm glad," Peter said with a slightly teasing smile. "Or I wouldn't have given you the message that El wants you to come over for meatloaf tonight."

"Oh," Neal said. "I'm glad you decided to. Or I would've been green with envy."

Peter gave him a flat look.

"Sorry," the man said with a shrug. "I couldn't resist. Now I'm done."

"Good," Peter said. "It was toadally annoying."

Neal paused for a moment, looking slightly puzzled, then laughed. He patted Peter's shoulder. "It's a start."

"Thanks." Peter pulled on his suit jacket and smiled. "Now let's go eat."

"I bet we could get you some flies."

"Neal..."