(no subject)
Title: Dinner
Author: Vekah Darkstar
Fandom: CSI: NY
Pairing/character: Mac Taylor and most of his team
Rating: PG
Prompt: Bpal - 50: Slobbering Pine
Notes/Warnings: I don't own them. I don't make money from them. I just like writing about them. I'll give them back... eventually. Maybe. Hopefully.
Prompt: The Slobbering Pine
Dewy, wet, whiplike and sticky.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was called The Slobbering Pine.
Detective Mac Taylor stared up at the name on the marquee, eyebrows raised in combination of mild disgust and morbid curiosity. It was reputed to be one of New York’s most premiere restaurants, serving only organic vegetarian cuisine. The menu was as extravagant as the prices, and supposedly worth every penny. Somehow the genius behind the trendy eatery had managed to put together healthy food in such combinations as to make it taste every bit as if it were bad for you.
Hence the “Slobbering” part in the restaurant’s title.
Mac had his doubts. Any place that refused to serve meat and had a title that reminded him of dog saliva wasn’t high on his list of choices for dinner. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his heavy woolen jacket, huddling in on himself against the frigid winter night. At least, that’s what he told himself he was doing. He certainly wasn’t grouching about the selection for dinner. No, that would have been immature and annoying.
“This is going to suck.”
“Danny!” Mac admonished, giving the other man a sharp look. It didn’t matter a wit that he utterly agreed with him. It was the fact that they had all promised to behave.
“What?” Danny Messer fired back, the Bronx thick in his voice. He wrapped his arms around himself with his hands tucked beneath his armpits. Flurries of snow clung to his light brown hair and his glasses, making the CSI look like he was standing in the middle of a snow globe. “I’m just being honest.”
“Well stow that part of the honesty for tonight,” Mac replied. “This is a team-building exercise, and it was Lindsay’s turn to pick the activity.”
“I hope for her sake that her chosen activity for us was an exercise in self-control,” Don Flack cut in, stepping out of the cab that had pulled up behind the two men. “Because that is what this is going to be-a training session in how not to jump up and scream for something real to eat.”
Danny chuckled, muttering something along the lines of sneaking off to the nearest hotdog vendor for a little ‘before dinner appetizer.’ Inwardly, Mac counted to ten before responding. “Then that’s a lesson we could all use,” he growled. “You think hanging at a crowded pool hall was just loads of fun for Lindsay? Or how about the day at the race track for Stella? Grow up, both of you.”
Both Danny and Don looked at each other, and then looked away, apparently chastised back into submission.
“I know, Mac,” Don sighed. He stared up at the title of the restaurant much in the same way Mac had, making much the same face, too. “I know this wasn’t your idea of fun either, and that the department shrink dumped it on us, but still… you think she’d’ve picked a place we all could have enjoyed.”
Dr. Angelina Sorendino, the new department psychiatrist, had plunged his entire team into this level of hell. It was a small comfort to know that not just his team had been singled out. Every team on the NYPD payroll had to go through this kind of exercise. It was supposed to promote unity and strength of character in the team. Spending time together once a week outside of the office, with each team member getting to plan the night in question, wasn’t exactly his idea of building team spirit.
Mac believed that he and his team were already one cohesive unit. Dr. Sorendino apparently believed otherwise.
“Who said we won’t enjoy this one?” Mac tried… and trailed off at the look both Don and Danny shot his way. It was his turn to sigh. “Okay. Look, just laugh at the jokes, chew with your mouth shut and make nice. Lindsay probably chose this place so we could get on with the ‘getting to know’ each other portion of this team building thing. A little civility could do us all a world of good.”
“I’m all for that civility thing,” Danny replied with a grin. “I just don’t see why we can’t have dead cow while being civil.”
“Because Lindsay doesn’t want dead cow right now,” Stella Bonasera, looking striking in black pants and a cable-knit sweater of soft sable green, said as she stepped around the corner. She fixed the belt on her jacket, covering up against the cold. “She’s waiting inside for us. We should probably go in.”
Don and Danny exchanged glances. “You first, Stell,” Don gestured ahead.
Stella paused, her face stricken a moment. She made a show of fixing her jacket again. “Sure. Just give me a minute.”
Again, Danny and Don exchanged glances and then crossed their arms over their chests, looking down at Stella. Even Mac couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his lips. “You don’t want to go in, either, do you?”
Stella’s head snapped up. “What would make you say that, Mac?”
Mac joined Don and Danny at staring down at her this time. All three lifted an eyebrow in unison. All three wore the same amused expression.
“Good lord,” Stella rolled her eyes. “You three don’t need this team building crap at all. Sometimes I think you all share the same brain. It’s only a question of which one has it at the time.”
Danny snorted out a laugh. Don looked slightly insulted. Mac just grinned, motioning them all to walk in ahead of him.
“We’re going in,” Mac said sternly, even with his eyes glittering with dark amusement. “The moment you cross that threshold, I better see happy smiles on your faces or so help me, we’ll have to do this again.”
The threat of spending another evening in vegetarian hell was enough to have every one of them smiling with fake sincerity. Mac marched in behind them, stripping off his coat and handing it to the valet. The smell of the place slapped at his senses. Dewy pine, wet, whip-like and sticky, filled his nose and coated the back of his throat until he thought he was going to gag on it. Still, he was their boss and had to set an example. Bracing himself as if he were about to kick in the door of a drug-den, he followed his team to the table.
Author: Vekah Darkstar
Fandom: CSI: NY
Pairing/character: Mac Taylor and most of his team
Rating: PG
Prompt: Bpal - 50: Slobbering Pine
Notes/Warnings: I don't own them. I don't make money from them. I just like writing about them. I'll give them back... eventually. Maybe. Hopefully.
Prompt: The Slobbering Pine
Dewy, wet, whiplike and sticky.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was called The Slobbering Pine.
Detective Mac Taylor stared up at the name on the marquee, eyebrows raised in combination of mild disgust and morbid curiosity. It was reputed to be one of New York’s most premiere restaurants, serving only organic vegetarian cuisine. The menu was as extravagant as the prices, and supposedly worth every penny. Somehow the genius behind the trendy eatery had managed to put together healthy food in such combinations as to make it taste every bit as if it were bad for you.
Hence the “Slobbering” part in the restaurant’s title.
Mac had his doubts. Any place that refused to serve meat and had a title that reminded him of dog saliva wasn’t high on his list of choices for dinner. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his heavy woolen jacket, huddling in on himself against the frigid winter night. At least, that’s what he told himself he was doing. He certainly wasn’t grouching about the selection for dinner. No, that would have been immature and annoying.
“This is going to suck.”
“Danny!” Mac admonished, giving the other man a sharp look. It didn’t matter a wit that he utterly agreed with him. It was the fact that they had all promised to behave.
“What?” Danny Messer fired back, the Bronx thick in his voice. He wrapped his arms around himself with his hands tucked beneath his armpits. Flurries of snow clung to his light brown hair and his glasses, making the CSI look like he was standing in the middle of a snow globe. “I’m just being honest.”
“Well stow that part of the honesty for tonight,” Mac replied. “This is a team-building exercise, and it was Lindsay’s turn to pick the activity.”
“I hope for her sake that her chosen activity for us was an exercise in self-control,” Don Flack cut in, stepping out of the cab that had pulled up behind the two men. “Because that is what this is going to be-a training session in how not to jump up and scream for something real to eat.”
Danny chuckled, muttering something along the lines of sneaking off to the nearest hotdog vendor for a little ‘before dinner appetizer.’ Inwardly, Mac counted to ten before responding. “Then that’s a lesson we could all use,” he growled. “You think hanging at a crowded pool hall was just loads of fun for Lindsay? Or how about the day at the race track for Stella? Grow up, both of you.”
Both Danny and Don looked at each other, and then looked away, apparently chastised back into submission.
“I know, Mac,” Don sighed. He stared up at the title of the restaurant much in the same way Mac had, making much the same face, too. “I know this wasn’t your idea of fun either, and that the department shrink dumped it on us, but still… you think she’d’ve picked a place we all could have enjoyed.”
Dr. Angelina Sorendino, the new department psychiatrist, had plunged his entire team into this level of hell. It was a small comfort to know that not just his team had been singled out. Every team on the NYPD payroll had to go through this kind of exercise. It was supposed to promote unity and strength of character in the team. Spending time together once a week outside of the office, with each team member getting to plan the night in question, wasn’t exactly his idea of building team spirit.
Mac believed that he and his team were already one cohesive unit. Dr. Sorendino apparently believed otherwise.
“Who said we won’t enjoy this one?” Mac tried… and trailed off at the look both Don and Danny shot his way. It was his turn to sigh. “Okay. Look, just laugh at the jokes, chew with your mouth shut and make nice. Lindsay probably chose this place so we could get on with the ‘getting to know’ each other portion of this team building thing. A little civility could do us all a world of good.”
“I’m all for that civility thing,” Danny replied with a grin. “I just don’t see why we can’t have dead cow while being civil.”
“Because Lindsay doesn’t want dead cow right now,” Stella Bonasera, looking striking in black pants and a cable-knit sweater of soft sable green, said as she stepped around the corner. She fixed the belt on her jacket, covering up against the cold. “She’s waiting inside for us. We should probably go in.”
Don and Danny exchanged glances. “You first, Stell,” Don gestured ahead.
Stella paused, her face stricken a moment. She made a show of fixing her jacket again. “Sure. Just give me a minute.”
Again, Danny and Don exchanged glances and then crossed their arms over their chests, looking down at Stella. Even Mac couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his lips. “You don’t want to go in, either, do you?”
Stella’s head snapped up. “What would make you say that, Mac?”
Mac joined Don and Danny at staring down at her this time. All three lifted an eyebrow in unison. All three wore the same amused expression.
“Good lord,” Stella rolled her eyes. “You three don’t need this team building crap at all. Sometimes I think you all share the same brain. It’s only a question of which one has it at the time.”
Danny snorted out a laugh. Don looked slightly insulted. Mac just grinned, motioning them all to walk in ahead of him.
“We’re going in,” Mac said sternly, even with his eyes glittering with dark amusement. “The moment you cross that threshold, I better see happy smiles on your faces or so help me, we’ll have to do this again.”
The threat of spending another evening in vegetarian hell was enough to have every one of them smiling with fake sincerity. Mac marched in behind them, stripping off his coat and handing it to the valet. The smell of the place slapped at his senses. Dewy pine, wet, whip-like and sticky, filled his nose and coated the back of his throat until he thought he was going to gag on it. Still, he was their boss and had to set an example. Bracing himself as if he were about to kick in the door of a drug-den, he followed his team to the table.