Annoying Garments, Victories Won - Chuck - Casey/Chuck
Title: Annoying Garments, Victories Won
Pairing: Casey/Chuck
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG
A/N: For varietypack100's "Orange" prompt.
Summary: The shirt that Chuck decides to wear that Saturday is positively distasteful; Casey takes action.
Major John Casey is not a man who is easily swayed - and he takes a certain pride in this quality and in the frustration that it causes in any potential swayers. The clench of Morgan's jaw when he doesn't manage to scare Casey off is a victory and the indignant scowl on Sarah's face makes him smile.
But Chuck…
Chuck is something else entirely. Chuck is someone who simply cannot be pushed away or frozen out. The years spent being a self-defined geek has allowed Chuck to build up a frustrating resistance to Casey's cold stares and put-downs. Nothing he tries on the kid works, nothing blocks him out, and that-
That is annoying.
It's as annoying as the constant dribble of chatter from his mouth; as annoying as the sorry fact that it's now Casey's job to baby-sit him; as annoying as his earnest attempts 'do the right thing'; as annoying as his gleeful smiles; as annoying as his poor luck at being the one that Bryce decided to send that email too.
Annoying as the orange t-shirt he's wearing today that seems to sear the eyes of anyone brave enough to look at it. It's over-sized with a stupid, geeky picture on the front - Casey doesn't recognise the picture or get the reference at all, which annoys him almost as much as the colour itself - and makes his hair seem even darker, makes him seem taller, and hides the lankiness of Chuck's body.
It is beyond annoying by now. Usually, Casey's reaction to such things is to shoot them. A lot. Happily. Sadly he doubts if that would be an appropriate course of action in current circumstances. Casey has built his career on being reliable and dependable; his superiors are likely to frown upon any outbursts of violence against the very person he's supposed to be protecting.
Fine, Casey tells himself. He'll simply have to opt for subtler means. He can do subtle. He can. He is good at subtle.
His arms are crossed over his chest as he takes a lumbering step towards that burst of sunshine orange in the room. Chuck's eyes seem to widen to epic proportions as he notices Casey's approach, as they always do, and when he gulps in alarm he looks like a character out of one of those comic books he must worship.
Casey smirks and brushes his hand over Chuck's shoulder, squeezing the offending garment for a moment too long. Chuck stares at him with an expression something akin to a deer that has suddenly become aware of the crosshairs watching it. "Hey, Casey," he croaks.
Casey nods, and pulls his hand away slowly, trailing his fingers for a moment before he does. "Nice shirt," he murmurs, with a telling raise of his eyebrows before he wanders away again, the very picture of nonchalance.
The t-shirt is confined to the back of Chuck's closet and isn't pulled out again except on very special occasions - Casey considers this a mission accomplished.
Pairing: Casey/Chuck
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG
A/N: For varietypack100's "Orange" prompt.
Summary: The shirt that Chuck decides to wear that Saturday is positively distasteful; Casey takes action.
Major John Casey is not a man who is easily swayed - and he takes a certain pride in this quality and in the frustration that it causes in any potential swayers. The clench of Morgan's jaw when he doesn't manage to scare Casey off is a victory and the indignant scowl on Sarah's face makes him smile.
But Chuck…
Chuck is something else entirely. Chuck is someone who simply cannot be pushed away or frozen out. The years spent being a self-defined geek has allowed Chuck to build up a frustrating resistance to Casey's cold stares and put-downs. Nothing he tries on the kid works, nothing blocks him out, and that-
That is annoying.
It's as annoying as the constant dribble of chatter from his mouth; as annoying as the sorry fact that it's now Casey's job to baby-sit him; as annoying as his earnest attempts 'do the right thing'; as annoying as his gleeful smiles; as annoying as his poor luck at being the one that Bryce decided to send that email too.
Annoying as the orange t-shirt he's wearing today that seems to sear the eyes of anyone brave enough to look at it. It's over-sized with a stupid, geeky picture on the front - Casey doesn't recognise the picture or get the reference at all, which annoys him almost as much as the colour itself - and makes his hair seem even darker, makes him seem taller, and hides the lankiness of Chuck's body.
It is beyond annoying by now. Usually, Casey's reaction to such things is to shoot them. A lot. Happily. Sadly he doubts if that would be an appropriate course of action in current circumstances. Casey has built his career on being reliable and dependable; his superiors are likely to frown upon any outbursts of violence against the very person he's supposed to be protecting.
Fine, Casey tells himself. He'll simply have to opt for subtler means. He can do subtle. He can. He is good at subtle.
His arms are crossed over his chest as he takes a lumbering step towards that burst of sunshine orange in the room. Chuck's eyes seem to widen to epic proportions as he notices Casey's approach, as they always do, and when he gulps in alarm he looks like a character out of one of those comic books he must worship.
Casey smirks and brushes his hand over Chuck's shoulder, squeezing the offending garment for a moment too long. Chuck stares at him with an expression something akin to a deer that has suddenly become aware of the crosshairs watching it. "Hey, Casey," he croaks.
Casey nods, and pulls his hand away slowly, trailing his fingers for a moment before he does. "Nice shirt," he murmurs, with a telling raise of his eyebrows before he wanders away again, the very picture of nonchalance.
The t-shirt is confined to the back of Chuck's closet and isn't pulled out again except on very special occasions - Casey considers this a mission accomplished.