Fic Commentary: Decorating the Goldfish Bowl
For spyglass_ Your director’s commentary, as it were...
Commentary for: Decorating the Goldfish Bowl
Well, this was prompted. And the prompt was the title. So I have commentary on the prompt. Basically, my thought process went thusly:
CJ/DANNY. I LOVE THEM. Oh, but I have not actually gone there since I was about 13/14. This could be interesting. And decorating the goldfish bowl. Could set it in the Bartlett admin, and they decorate together, but I don’t want to; and it’s just too precious. Or something. I don’t like it.
And I have to pull off Sorkin-speak. Grr.
Or they could already be living happily ever after. (They ARE living happily ever after.) And Danny is decorating the bowl, keeping the tradition alive, because I feel like CJ would forget. But what is he decorating it with? Well, these are holiday fic...
Nothing wrong with a good Christmas trope...
But where to go with it afterwards then. I need an ending... Well, if I’m already doing mistletoe, why the heck not go there?
xxx
“What are you doing?”
Danny turned, startled by the voice behind him. Then he grinned at the concern (slash panic) so clearly displayed on her face. “Decorating Gail’s bowl,” he calmly informed the woman with whom he now shared custody of a goldfish. “I noticed that you hadn’t gotten around to it this year yet.”
I could just picture him doing something over in the corner, and then spinning around guiltily when he heard her speak. In my head, this isn’t all that long after Bartlett left office, so they’re still getting used to each other a bit. Or at least, getting used to having each other around permanently.
CJ paused briefly, trying to squash the sudden feelings of guilt, “Well, I’ve been busy...”
She, in particular, isn’t used to the relationship. She’s not used to not having to rush around all the time, saving the world. But she’s still really busy, and sometimes she forgets the little things.
“Plus, it was always Carol who did the actual decorating,” Danny supplied.
CJ tried desperately to think of something to say to that. “Uh...”
Danny laughed. “CJ, you forget, I know you. And I know what your old job meant. What`s more, I understand it. It`s fine.”
And he doesn’t mind that. Because he loves her.
“You saw four other Press Secretaries before me?” CJ murmured.
I love that scene at the end of Take Out the Trash Day. When she almost gives him a tip, and he won’t let her. Because he cares about her. And then when he refuses, she rallies, and you can see her confidence in how good she is at why she does now.
He grinned. “Yup, but you were always my favourite.”
She smirked. “Well, I’m the only one you bought a goldfish at least.”
“Well, I heard that you liked them,” he told her. “I can’t believe Gail’s lived for as long as she has.”
Apparently, Allison Janney insists it was the same fish. Or was told it was the same fish at least. This amuses me. Even if I am sceptical about its truth.
“I took care of her,” CJ assured him. “I always took care of her.”
That’s the one thing about a living gift. Makes it hard to forget the giver. Danny’s gift was inadvertently sneakier than if he’d just gotten her the crackers.
Danny wrapped an arm around her waist. “I know.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to decorate,” CJ explained. “I like the decorations.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m well aware that nothing would have been decorated without your support. It’s why I didn’t think you’d mind if I put my own spin on things this year.”
CJ eyed the bowl sceptically. “As long as you’re not hurting Gail.”
We know she’s protective of her fish.
Danny looked affronted. “As if I would ever hurt Gail,” he scoffed.
CJ grinned at his obvious offense. She’d always found his righteous indignation oddly attractive. “Not deliberately, I suppose.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of a goldfish!” Danny insisted.
“Yeah, that’s why I’ve had custody all these year,” CJ snarked.
“I travelled a lot for work!” Danny objected, his voice rising in pitch now, as well as volume.
“Danny, I gotta tell you, that was - seriously - that was a turn-on when you said that, though I don't know why you decided to be your most haughty on the Dallas Morning News in that sentence.”
“Unlike my job, which was a regular nine to five,” CJ replied dryly.
“But you had a staff,” Danny muttered.
Hence Carol being on decorating duty.
“Who knew exactly what I’d do to them if anyone hurt my fish,” CJ said, poking him in the side. “So keep that in mind, Daniel.”
I do enjoy when she calls him Daniel. Also Freakboy. And she had to poke him. The offence didn’t seem big enough for a smack upside the head.
He smirked, and opened his mouth to say something when she spoke again.
“Hey,” she murmured, leaning in for a closer look. “Is that...”
“Mistletoe,” Danny confirmed. “I thought it was festive.”
Also, Danny is a romantic. He is obviously the romantic of the partnership.
“Isn’t it also, you know, poisonous?” CJ asked, aghast.
“I think that’s just the berries,” Danny replied blithely.
“You mean those little white things right there?” CJ demanded, pointing into the bowl.
“That’s to humans though,” he clarified, eyes twinkling. “I don’t think the effects on goldfish have ever been rigorously tested.”
He does love to push and tease her. That definitely goes both ways. Banter is cannon.
“Yeah, well I don’t want to start today!” CJ shrieked.
“Also, it’s plastic,” Danny added, before she could snatch the plant away.
The Bartlett administration has been shown in the past to be particular adverse to nature and the outdoors. Or at the very least oblivious to it.
“What?” CJ asked, her hand stalling in midair.
“Plastic,” Danny repeated. “I told you, I wouldn’t ever hurt Gail. Although your faith in me on that score is really quite touching CJ...”
“Shut up, Fishboy,” she muttered, feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm. “How was I supposed to know it was plastic?”
“Well, looking at it’s a bit of a giveaway,” Danny teased.
“I have a degree in communications,” she reminded him. “I’m not a botanist.”
She also didn’t know the chemical abbreviation for table salt. Although, I suppose she does now... Science, clearly not CJ’s forte.
“You helped run the country!” Danny shot back, unable to resist.
“And oddly enough, recognizing plastic imitation plants didn’t come up once in eight years,” CJ replied dryly.
Although, a lot of other random things did.
“Technically if they’re plastic, they’re imitation be default,” Danny couldn’t help pointing out.
All my Sorkin boys are sticklers when it comes to language. It really shouldn’t be endearing... Must be because they’re all writers.
“Shut up,” she muttered again. “Writers... Anyway, what’s the point of putting mistletoe in the bowl? It’ll just make Gail feel lonely when she realizes she has no one to kiss.”
And it is that piece of logic that pretty much spawned the whole story...
“Funny you should mention that,” Danny replied. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
CJ turned to him, a smile playing about the corners of her mouth, “Danny?”
You see, because she now suspects what he’s up to. And unlike him, she knows how the story ends.
He pulled a second plastic bag into sight. “CJ, meet Gordon.”
CJ laughed at the sight of the second fish. “Now how did you manage to find another fish sales guy who named your fish?”
Because sure, it was “the guy at the store” who named Gail. Sure Danny. WE ALL BELIEVE THAT.
“How do you know it wasn’t the same guy?” Danny asked.
She raised her eyebrows, “We moved halfway across the country in the interim?”
“Anyway, I named this one,” he admitted.
“I don’t know, are you sure we’re ready for this?” she asked, her smile growing. “A second fish?”
That’s a pretty big relationship step. But it’s been a long time coming for these two. And really, CJ likes the relationship, even if she’s not always very good at it. She loves having her Fishboy around permanently. Just think about her brilliant smiles every time he showed up for an episode.
He matched her smile with one of his own. “I think so,” he told her softly. “Expand our family a little.”
She bit her lip and glanced at the floor. Then she looked up at him again, and Danny had his answer (not that it surprised him). (But he also still doesn’t know why she’s really smiling) He slipped the still-closed bag into the water. “I’ll just let Gordon adjust to things before I let him out.”
CJ leaning slightly against the man beside her.
He wrapped an arm around her again. “How was your doctor’s appointment by the way? Everything alright?”
CJ bit her lip. “You know how you were talking about expanding our little family...
He turned towards her, eyes wide. “CJ...”
A little gobsmacked right now, but you know the second it sinks in he’ll be grinning like an idiot, then probably trying to make her sit down and rest or something. (And once they get over the first rush of joy, they will sit and plot about how they are going to tell the President and the current White House.)
She didn’t even try to contain her smile. “How do you feel about a non-aquatic addition this time?”
After all, when they’re opening the Presidential library, they have a kid, SO IT ALL WORKS OUT. And come on, you know she’d never just come right out and tell him...
xxx
The end
So yes, there is your DVD commentary, Grace. Really, this fic was just a lot of me going, “LA LA LA! I will put this in and it will be CHARMING.”
I hope you enjoyed it. I don’t suppose you have any questions? Otherwise, this is the end.
Commentary for: Decorating the Goldfish Bowl
Well, this was prompted. And the prompt was the title. So I have commentary on the prompt. Basically, my thought process went thusly:
CJ/DANNY. I LOVE THEM. Oh, but I have not actually gone there since I was about 13/14. This could be interesting. And decorating the goldfish bowl. Could set it in the Bartlett admin, and they decorate together, but I don’t want to; and it’s just too precious. Or something. I don’t like it.
And I have to pull off Sorkin-speak. Grr.
Or they could already be living happily ever after. (They ARE living happily ever after.) And Danny is decorating the bowl, keeping the tradition alive, because I feel like CJ would forget. But what is he decorating it with? Well, these are holiday fic...
Nothing wrong with a good Christmas trope...
But where to go with it afterwards then. I need an ending... Well, if I’m already doing mistletoe, why the heck not go there?
xxx
“What are you doing?”
Danny turned, startled by the voice behind him. Then he grinned at the concern (slash panic) so clearly displayed on her face. “Decorating Gail’s bowl,” he calmly informed the woman with whom he now shared custody of a goldfish. “I noticed that you hadn’t gotten around to it this year yet.”
I could just picture him doing something over in the corner, and then spinning around guiltily when he heard her speak. In my head, this isn’t all that long after Bartlett left office, so they’re still getting used to each other a bit. Or at least, getting used to having each other around permanently.
CJ paused briefly, trying to squash the sudden feelings of guilt, “Well, I’ve been busy...”
She, in particular, isn’t used to the relationship. She’s not used to not having to rush around all the time, saving the world. But she’s still really busy, and sometimes she forgets the little things.
“Plus, it was always Carol who did the actual decorating,” Danny supplied.
CJ tried desperately to think of something to say to that. “Uh...”
Danny laughed. “CJ, you forget, I know you. And I know what your old job meant. What`s more, I understand it. It`s fine.”
And he doesn’t mind that. Because he loves her.
“You saw four other Press Secretaries before me?” CJ murmured.
I love that scene at the end of Take Out the Trash Day. When she almost gives him a tip, and he won’t let her. Because he cares about her. And then when he refuses, she rallies, and you can see her confidence in how good she is at why she does now.
He grinned. “Yup, but you were always my favourite.”
She smirked. “Well, I’m the only one you bought a goldfish at least.”
“Well, I heard that you liked them,” he told her. “I can’t believe Gail’s lived for as long as she has.”
Apparently, Allison Janney insists it was the same fish. Or was told it was the same fish at least. This amuses me. Even if I am sceptical about its truth.
“I took care of her,” CJ assured him. “I always took care of her.”
That’s the one thing about a living gift. Makes it hard to forget the giver. Danny’s gift was inadvertently sneakier than if he’d just gotten her the crackers.
Danny wrapped an arm around her waist. “I know.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to decorate,” CJ explained. “I like the decorations.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m well aware that nothing would have been decorated without your support. It’s why I didn’t think you’d mind if I put my own spin on things this year.”
CJ eyed the bowl sceptically. “As long as you’re not hurting Gail.”
We know she’s protective of her fish.
Danny looked affronted. “As if I would ever hurt Gail,” he scoffed.
CJ grinned at his obvious offense. She’d always found his righteous indignation oddly attractive. “Not deliberately, I suppose.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of a goldfish!” Danny insisted.
“Yeah, that’s why I’ve had custody all these year,” CJ snarked.
“I travelled a lot for work!” Danny objected, his voice rising in pitch now, as well as volume.
“Danny, I gotta tell you, that was - seriously - that was a turn-on when you said that, though I don't know why you decided to be your most haughty on the Dallas Morning News in that sentence.”
“Unlike my job, which was a regular nine to five,” CJ replied dryly.
“But you had a staff,” Danny muttered.
Hence Carol being on decorating duty.
“Who knew exactly what I’d do to them if anyone hurt my fish,” CJ said, poking him in the side. “So keep that in mind, Daniel.”
I do enjoy when she calls him Daniel. Also Freakboy. And she had to poke him. The offence didn’t seem big enough for a smack upside the head.
He smirked, and opened his mouth to say something when she spoke again.
“Hey,” she murmured, leaning in for a closer look. “Is that...”
“Mistletoe,” Danny confirmed. “I thought it was festive.”
Also, Danny is a romantic. He is obviously the romantic of the partnership.
“Isn’t it also, you know, poisonous?” CJ asked, aghast.
“I think that’s just the berries,” Danny replied blithely.
“You mean those little white things right there?” CJ demanded, pointing into the bowl.
“That’s to humans though,” he clarified, eyes twinkling. “I don’t think the effects on goldfish have ever been rigorously tested.”
He does love to push and tease her. That definitely goes both ways. Banter is cannon.
“Yeah, well I don’t want to start today!” CJ shrieked.
“Also, it’s plastic,” Danny added, before she could snatch the plant away.
The Bartlett administration has been shown in the past to be particular adverse to nature and the outdoors. Or at the very least oblivious to it.
“What?” CJ asked, her hand stalling in midair.
“Plastic,” Danny repeated. “I told you, I wouldn’t ever hurt Gail. Although your faith in me on that score is really quite touching CJ...”
“Shut up, Fishboy,” she muttered, feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm. “How was I supposed to know it was plastic?”
“Well, looking at it’s a bit of a giveaway,” Danny teased.
“I have a degree in communications,” she reminded him. “I’m not a botanist.”
She also didn’t know the chemical abbreviation for table salt. Although, I suppose she does now... Science, clearly not CJ’s forte.
“You helped run the country!” Danny shot back, unable to resist.
“And oddly enough, recognizing plastic imitation plants didn’t come up once in eight years,” CJ replied dryly.
Although, a lot of other random things did.
“Technically if they’re plastic, they’re imitation be default,” Danny couldn’t help pointing out.
All my Sorkin boys are sticklers when it comes to language. It really shouldn’t be endearing... Must be because they’re all writers.
“Shut up,” she muttered again. “Writers... Anyway, what’s the point of putting mistletoe in the bowl? It’ll just make Gail feel lonely when she realizes she has no one to kiss.”
And it is that piece of logic that pretty much spawned the whole story...
“Funny you should mention that,” Danny replied. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
CJ turned to him, a smile playing about the corners of her mouth, “Danny?”
You see, because she now suspects what he’s up to. And unlike him, she knows how the story ends.
He pulled a second plastic bag into sight. “CJ, meet Gordon.”
CJ laughed at the sight of the second fish. “Now how did you manage to find another fish sales guy who named your fish?”
Because sure, it was “the guy at the store” who named Gail. Sure Danny. WE ALL BELIEVE THAT.
“How do you know it wasn’t the same guy?” Danny asked.
She raised her eyebrows, “We moved halfway across the country in the interim?”
“Anyway, I named this one,” he admitted.
“I don’t know, are you sure we’re ready for this?” she asked, her smile growing. “A second fish?”
That’s a pretty big relationship step. But it’s been a long time coming for these two. And really, CJ likes the relationship, even if she’s not always very good at it. She loves having her Fishboy around permanently. Just think about her brilliant smiles every time he showed up for an episode.
He matched her smile with one of his own. “I think so,” he told her softly. “Expand our family a little.”
She bit her lip and glanced at the floor. Then she looked up at him again, and Danny had his answer (not that it surprised him). (But he also still doesn’t know why she’s really smiling) He slipped the still-closed bag into the water. “I’ll just let Gordon adjust to things before I let him out.”
CJ leaning slightly against the man beside her.
He wrapped an arm around her again. “How was your doctor’s appointment by the way? Everything alright?”
CJ bit her lip. “You know how you were talking about expanding our little family...
He turned towards her, eyes wide. “CJ...”
A little gobsmacked right now, but you know the second it sinks in he’ll be grinning like an idiot, then probably trying to make her sit down and rest or something. (And once they get over the first rush of joy, they will sit and plot about how they are going to tell the President and the current White House.)
She didn’t even try to contain her smile. “How do you feel about a non-aquatic addition this time?”
After all, when they’re opening the Presidential library, they have a kid, SO IT ALL WORKS OUT. And come on, you know she’d never just come right out and tell him...
xxx
The end
So yes, there is your DVD commentary, Grace. Really, this fic was just a lot of me going, “LA LA LA! I will put this in and it will be CHARMING.”
I hope you enjoyed it. I don’t suppose you have any questions? Otherwise, this is the end.