STUDIO 60: A Place Like Home
Title: A Place Like Home
Characters/Pairing: Matt and Danny, mention of Jordan, Harriet and Rebecca
Word Count: 1158
Rating: PG
Summary: Matt and Danny come back to the studio after their summer hiatus, and this is totally their year. No, really.
Notes: This was originally written as a teaser for a fantasy season episode I was writing, but that project kinda died and I didn't get more than a couple scenes. Still, I think the teaser stands alone pretty well. And oh, I miss my show.
Disclaimer: Studio 60 and all characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, and I'm not making any money from this.
"This is our year."
The doors of the studio swung inward, preceding Matt and Danny's entrance. Danny thought it was a little over-dramatic, but coming back from hiatus, Matt needed that kind of drama to find his groove, whatever that meant. He'd stopped asking about the fifth time they went through that particular conversation, and that was six or seven years ago.
"How exactly is that determined?" Danny asked. "Because right now, it's starting to seem like it's based solely on how early we show up in the building. Sooner or later, we're just going to end up living here."
"Way to take my attempt to be positive and completely ruin it." Matt didn't even look at him, though he did speed up his pace down the hallway just a little, like a little more energy would make up for losing whatever point he'd been about to make. "That's exactly what I keep you around for."
"I'm just saying, we could have showed up any time after six in the morning, and you'd get just as much done, I promise."
"I want to get started as soon as possible. You know why?"
Danny sighed as they started up the stairs, and glanced over to Matt, eyebrows raised. "This is just a wild guess, but... because it's our year?"
Matt grinned and spun around to face Danny, walking backwards as he spoke. Danny had to wonder how he managed that on stairs without falling and making himself look like an idiot, especially since in his experience, it didn't take much to make Matt look like an idiot. "That is exactly why! Now you're getting it."
"I'm really not."
"You know, you didn't have to come," Matt said, turning back around smoothly. "All I did was tell you I was going to be in the studio at six in the morning, and lo and behold, you appeared. It wasn't a summons, you know."
"You think I was going to leave you in the studio unsupervised?"
Matt shrugged. "It doesn't seem really likely, no, but it also seems really unnecessary. You realize I'm a grown man, right?"
"Yeah, but... just barely. Anyway, Jordan and Harriet would both kill me with their hands if you happened to take a jump off the balcony."
And Matt stopped, right at the top of the stairs, putting himself in Danny's way. "You know I'm not going to do that," he said simply, and met Danny's eyes. A moment passed in which neither of them spoke, and Danny found himself grateful now that they had come here so early, that there was no one except for a few members of the crew around to hear.
He softened his voice a little when he answered, "I know. But it's me, Matty. And we've had a good summer, and we're coming back to the show and things are gonna get a lot harder."
"You think I don't know that?"
"You're gonna want to go back on the pills."
Matt watched him silently, his jaw set, and at last nodded shortly. "I'll get past it." He pivoted sharply on his heel and started heading down the hallway, leaving Danny no choice but to follow. "This is the year. We're going to start off with a bang, we're going to blow SNL out of the water..."
"Not exactly a stunning achievement lately-"
"Can I just enjoy the moment without you ruining it for me? Does being a father just make you crabby all the time?"
"This isn't crabby."
"Seems like it to me."
"I think it's more realistic. Pragmatic."
Matt considered him out of the corner of his eye. "All I'm asking is one moment. Come on, Danny. This studio, this place... it's like coming home. Don't tell me you didn't miss it."
"You realize we were here just a couple days ago, right?"
Matt shook his head. "It's not the same." And Danny knew it wasn't, especially not for Matt. The studio didn't really live and breathe over the summer, it... hibernated. The studio wasn't home for most of them until everyone was there - the actors, the crew, the writers - and working as a functioning whole. The studio wasn't home for Matt until he had a deadline to work toward, or struggle against, depending on his mood. He smiled a little, and nodded.
"One moment." They spent it in silence as they walked the rest of the way to Matt's office. Their footsteps seemed louder than usual in the mostly empty hallway - every now and then a PA walked by, or some crew member laden with tools, but for the most part, the cast and crew hadn't arrived yet. It was just the two of them, in the place they'd spent most of the waking moments of their life the past year. Some of the moments when they were asleep too.
They reached Matt's office. Danny sat on the couch. Matt, too full of restless energy, leaned against his desk. Danny watched him for a second, then decided his one moment had passed. "So if this is our year... does that mean it's downhill from here?"
Matt looked at him like he hadn't considered that, and as if the idea truly scared him. Danny wondered if maybe he should have kept that last question to himself. Matt watched him a moment longer, and asked, "Do you... have anything better to do right now? Something that's not entirely demoralizing?"
"I'm not being demoralizing, I'm just trying to point out a few flaws in your theory." He sat there a little longer, then got to his feet. "I guess I could go see if Cal's showed up yet."
"I think you should."
Matt watched as Danny walked out, not moving from his position leaning against the desk. It wasn't until after he'd gone that he turned around to face the window that looked out over the studio. The construction had mostly finished, the main set with the backdrop of the Sunset Strip no longer obscured by scaffolding and workmen. Matt had missed it, no matter how often he'd dropped by the studio over the summer. Now this was his place. Now it was home.
"This is our year," he murmured to himself, more firmly than before, just to make it sound real, make it sound true.
Matt pushed himself off the desk and walked around it to drop into his chair, flipping open his laptop as he did. It finished booting up, and he opened a document. He rested his fingers on the keys. He looked up to the clock, bright red numbers announcing that there were four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and some change left until the show. He looked back to the blank document on his computer, awfully white and seeming to mock him with that simple fact.
"On second thought," he said under his breath, tapping his fingers uncertainly on the keys, "maybe that was last year."
Characters/Pairing: Matt and Danny, mention of Jordan, Harriet and Rebecca
Word Count: 1158
Rating: PG
Summary: Matt and Danny come back to the studio after their summer hiatus, and this is totally their year. No, really.
Notes: This was originally written as a teaser for a fantasy season episode I was writing, but that project kinda died and I didn't get more than a couple scenes. Still, I think the teaser stands alone pretty well. And oh, I miss my show.
Disclaimer: Studio 60 and all characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, and I'm not making any money from this.
"This is our year."
The doors of the studio swung inward, preceding Matt and Danny's entrance. Danny thought it was a little over-dramatic, but coming back from hiatus, Matt needed that kind of drama to find his groove, whatever that meant. He'd stopped asking about the fifth time they went through that particular conversation, and that was six or seven years ago.
"How exactly is that determined?" Danny asked. "Because right now, it's starting to seem like it's based solely on how early we show up in the building. Sooner or later, we're just going to end up living here."
"Way to take my attempt to be positive and completely ruin it." Matt didn't even look at him, though he did speed up his pace down the hallway just a little, like a little more energy would make up for losing whatever point he'd been about to make. "That's exactly what I keep you around for."
"I'm just saying, we could have showed up any time after six in the morning, and you'd get just as much done, I promise."
"I want to get started as soon as possible. You know why?"
Danny sighed as they started up the stairs, and glanced over to Matt, eyebrows raised. "This is just a wild guess, but... because it's our year?"
Matt grinned and spun around to face Danny, walking backwards as he spoke. Danny had to wonder how he managed that on stairs without falling and making himself look like an idiot, especially since in his experience, it didn't take much to make Matt look like an idiot. "That is exactly why! Now you're getting it."
"I'm really not."
"You know, you didn't have to come," Matt said, turning back around smoothly. "All I did was tell you I was going to be in the studio at six in the morning, and lo and behold, you appeared. It wasn't a summons, you know."
"You think I was going to leave you in the studio unsupervised?"
Matt shrugged. "It doesn't seem really likely, no, but it also seems really unnecessary. You realize I'm a grown man, right?"
"Yeah, but... just barely. Anyway, Jordan and Harriet would both kill me with their hands if you happened to take a jump off the balcony."
And Matt stopped, right at the top of the stairs, putting himself in Danny's way. "You know I'm not going to do that," he said simply, and met Danny's eyes. A moment passed in which neither of them spoke, and Danny found himself grateful now that they had come here so early, that there was no one except for a few members of the crew around to hear.
He softened his voice a little when he answered, "I know. But it's me, Matty. And we've had a good summer, and we're coming back to the show and things are gonna get a lot harder."
"You think I don't know that?"
"You're gonna want to go back on the pills."
Matt watched him silently, his jaw set, and at last nodded shortly. "I'll get past it." He pivoted sharply on his heel and started heading down the hallway, leaving Danny no choice but to follow. "This is the year. We're going to start off with a bang, we're going to blow SNL out of the water..."
"Not exactly a stunning achievement lately-"
"Can I just enjoy the moment without you ruining it for me? Does being a father just make you crabby all the time?"
"This isn't crabby."
"Seems like it to me."
"I think it's more realistic. Pragmatic."
Matt considered him out of the corner of his eye. "All I'm asking is one moment. Come on, Danny. This studio, this place... it's like coming home. Don't tell me you didn't miss it."
"You realize we were here just a couple days ago, right?"
Matt shook his head. "It's not the same." And Danny knew it wasn't, especially not for Matt. The studio didn't really live and breathe over the summer, it... hibernated. The studio wasn't home for most of them until everyone was there - the actors, the crew, the writers - and working as a functioning whole. The studio wasn't home for Matt until he had a deadline to work toward, or struggle against, depending on his mood. He smiled a little, and nodded.
"One moment." They spent it in silence as they walked the rest of the way to Matt's office. Their footsteps seemed louder than usual in the mostly empty hallway - every now and then a PA walked by, or some crew member laden with tools, but for the most part, the cast and crew hadn't arrived yet. It was just the two of them, in the place they'd spent most of the waking moments of their life the past year. Some of the moments when they were asleep too.
They reached Matt's office. Danny sat on the couch. Matt, too full of restless energy, leaned against his desk. Danny watched him for a second, then decided his one moment had passed. "So if this is our year... does that mean it's downhill from here?"
Matt looked at him like he hadn't considered that, and as if the idea truly scared him. Danny wondered if maybe he should have kept that last question to himself. Matt watched him a moment longer, and asked, "Do you... have anything better to do right now? Something that's not entirely demoralizing?"
"I'm not being demoralizing, I'm just trying to point out a few flaws in your theory." He sat there a little longer, then got to his feet. "I guess I could go see if Cal's showed up yet."
"I think you should."
Matt watched as Danny walked out, not moving from his position leaning against the desk. It wasn't until after he'd gone that he turned around to face the window that looked out over the studio. The construction had mostly finished, the main set with the backdrop of the Sunset Strip no longer obscured by scaffolding and workmen. Matt had missed it, no matter how often he'd dropped by the studio over the summer. Now this was his place. Now it was home.
"This is our year," he murmured to himself, more firmly than before, just to make it sound real, make it sound true.
Matt pushed himself off the desk and walked around it to drop into his chair, flipping open his laptop as he did. It finished booting up, and he opened a document. He rested his fingers on the keys. He looked up to the clock, bright red numbers announcing that there were four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and some change left until the show. He looked back to the blank document on his computer, awfully white and seeming to mock him with that simple fact.
"On second thought," he said under his breath, tapping his fingers uncertainly on the keys, "maybe that was last year."