SPORTS NIGHT: The Thrill of... Not Totally Failing
Title: The Thrill of... Not Totally Failing
Characters/Pairing: Casey, Jeremy, Dana, Natalie and Dan
Word Count: 532
Rating: G
Summary: Casey realizes that it's not possible to win Trivial Pursuit by only answering sports questions.
Notes: I've been wanting to write this forever. I honestly think it's been almost a year since I got the plotbunny. But I finally got around to it! Yay!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sports Night, Trivial Pursuit, or the Starland Vocal Band. And no, I probably didn't get the technicalities of Trivial Pursuit right, because it's been a year since I've played, and I don't have a board to pull out. Deal.
"You do know that you can't win this game by only answering the sports questions, right?"
Casey glares across the table - and the Trivial Pursuit board - at a smirking Jeremy. Jeremy's pie-shaped game piece has five pie pieces in it, missing only one. Casey's, no surprise, holds a single green piece.
"Yeah, wonderboy, I understand the rules of the game."
"So are you actually trying to win, or just... playing for the hell of it?"
"Casey has this fear of losing," Dana offers helpfully.
"Dana..."
"He thinks if he answers any questions that aren't sports-related, he's going to get it wrong."
Natalie grins and adds, "We promise not to laugh at you. Much." All the women in this building seem to have that fake-helpful tone down. Or maybe it's just women in general. Lisa used to sound like that from time to time, but whenever she did it, bad things happened - usually the worst that happens when he hears it from Natalie and Dana is that he gets humiliated one way or another.
"Hey, Dan!" Casey calls, raising his voice so that Dan will hear him in the office. "You want to help me out here?"
Dan's voice drifts out to him, skeptical. "Help you with what?"
"...They're laughing at me."
"Not yet," Natalie mumbles under her breath, and a moment later comes Dan's response:
"I really don't."
Casey turns back to silently consider the other three gathered around the table, and finally announces, "I think you all get meaner the later it gets."
"Yeah, yeah." Dana shoves the dice toward him. "You wanna play, or you wanna whine?"
"Devil woman," he murmurs as he reaches for the dice and rolls them, and Dana responds with only a smile.
The dice clatter, come up with a six, and Casey surveys his options. It's a green space - sports, again - or a pink pie space. Natalie's watching him intently; Jeremy is too, but he's got that slightly mocking smirk about it, which he can afford, because everyone (except maybe Dana) knew right from the beginning that he was going to win. Dana is still smiling, but with a bit of superiority, probably because she knows he'll go for the sports (he's not cool enough to handle the entertainment questions). He meets her eyes and deliberately nudges his piece toward the pink space.
"That's a bold move," Dana comments, eyebrows raised. Casey just gives her a challenging smile and gestures toward the card box.
"Well, I'm waiting for my question."
Dana draws a card, shielding the back of it with her hands, and her eyebrows shoot up. For a moment, there's silence, and then she scoffs in disbelief. Natalie leans over to read the question, and her mouth drops open. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"
"What's the question?"
Dana looks up at Casey with an entirely unamused look, like she somehow blames him for whatever's on the card, then down at the card again, clears her throat and asks slowly, "What band won the 1978 Grammy for best new artist?"
Natalie and Jeremy look at Casey with disbelief matching Dana's. Casey's lips quirk into an amused smirk.
Characters/Pairing: Casey, Jeremy, Dana, Natalie and Dan
Word Count: 532
Rating: G
Summary: Casey realizes that it's not possible to win Trivial Pursuit by only answering sports questions.
Notes: I've been wanting to write this forever. I honestly think it's been almost a year since I got the plotbunny. But I finally got around to it! Yay!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sports Night, Trivial Pursuit, or the Starland Vocal Band. And no, I probably didn't get the technicalities of Trivial Pursuit right, because it's been a year since I've played, and I don't have a board to pull out. Deal.
"You do know that you can't win this game by only answering the sports questions, right?"
Casey glares across the table - and the Trivial Pursuit board - at a smirking Jeremy. Jeremy's pie-shaped game piece has five pie pieces in it, missing only one. Casey's, no surprise, holds a single green piece.
"Yeah, wonderboy, I understand the rules of the game."
"So are you actually trying to win, or just... playing for the hell of it?"
"Casey has this fear of losing," Dana offers helpfully.
"Dana..."
"He thinks if he answers any questions that aren't sports-related, he's going to get it wrong."
Natalie grins and adds, "We promise not to laugh at you. Much." All the women in this building seem to have that fake-helpful tone down. Or maybe it's just women in general. Lisa used to sound like that from time to time, but whenever she did it, bad things happened - usually the worst that happens when he hears it from Natalie and Dana is that he gets humiliated one way or another.
"Hey, Dan!" Casey calls, raising his voice so that Dan will hear him in the office. "You want to help me out here?"
Dan's voice drifts out to him, skeptical. "Help you with what?"
"...They're laughing at me."
"Not yet," Natalie mumbles under her breath, and a moment later comes Dan's response:
"I really don't."
Casey turns back to silently consider the other three gathered around the table, and finally announces, "I think you all get meaner the later it gets."
"Yeah, yeah." Dana shoves the dice toward him. "You wanna play, or you wanna whine?"
"Devil woman," he murmurs as he reaches for the dice and rolls them, and Dana responds with only a smile.
The dice clatter, come up with a six, and Casey surveys his options. It's a green space - sports, again - or a pink pie space. Natalie's watching him intently; Jeremy is too, but he's got that slightly mocking smirk about it, which he can afford, because everyone (except maybe Dana) knew right from the beginning that he was going to win. Dana is still smiling, but with a bit of superiority, probably because she knows he'll go for the sports (he's not cool enough to handle the entertainment questions). He meets her eyes and deliberately nudges his piece toward the pink space.
"That's a bold move," Dana comments, eyebrows raised. Casey just gives her a challenging smile and gestures toward the card box.
"Well, I'm waiting for my question."
Dana draws a card, shielding the back of it with her hands, and her eyebrows shoot up. For a moment, there's silence, and then she scoffs in disbelief. Natalie leans over to read the question, and her mouth drops open. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"
"What's the question?"
Dana looks up at Casey with an entirely unamused look, like she somehow blames him for whatever's on the card, then down at the card again, clears her throat and asks slowly, "What band won the 1978 Grammy for best new artist?"
Natalie and Jeremy look at Casey with disbelief matching Dana's. Casey's lips quirk into an amused smirk.