Inside Fic: Paris in the Springtime
Title: Paris in the Springtime
Author: nutmeg610
Rating: PG
Fandom: The Inside
Pairing: Danny/Mel
Prompt: #20 Vacation, from my table
Summary: Danny and Mel vacation in Paris, and Danny discovers a secret fear of Mel's.
Warning: This? Is not angsty Inside fic. This is zomg!cute fic. Just to prepare you...
Notes: I wrote this a looooooooong time ago, and was worried they were OOC b/c I've seen like five episodes, but neroli66 said they were in character so I'll take her word for it. ;)
"Where to now?" Danny asked, sticking his hands into the pockets of his khakis as he glanced at the woman beside him, whose nose was buried in a traveler's guide.
"Mmm... that would be the Eiffel Tower." Mel answered, flipping a page as they continued walking. Danny had to reach out and steer her away from trampling over a little old French lady with a huge baguette sticking out of her bag.
"How about you watch where you're going? You almost killed French Granny."
Mel lifted her eyes to his and frowned. "I just want to read up about it before we get there."
"Well you can read in the cab."
"We're walking."
"We're what?" Danny exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. "Didn't we walk enough at that museum yesterday?"
Mel raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining about walking around the Louvre? About seeing the Mona Lisa? I can't believe you."
"Oh c'mon." Danny reasoned. "That stuff was fun, but we've been walking everywhere for the last two days."
"But that's the best way to see Paris." Mel retorted, looking back down at her book and starting to walk away. With a resigned sigh, Danny followed, realizing he hadn't marched around this much since he'd left the Marines.
"Is it far?" he asked, trying to sound casual about it.
Mel shot him another look. "No. Stop whining."
"I'm not whining." Danny answered.
"Now you're pouting."
"I'm not a three year old, babe."
Mel was thinking of a comeback, but then decided it best to let it slide. She didn't want to pick a fight on their first real vacation together.
"Ok, well, it's really not that far. But if you want to get a cab, we can."
Danny shrugged. "I can stick it out a bit longer." Mel gave him a smile as they continued on.
"It says here that there are two restaurants inside, as well as snack bars and souvenir shops."
"Really?" Danny asked. "I thought it was just a giant... steel frame... thing."
"Iron." Mel corrected. They could finally see it off in the distance and Mel let out a pleased noise that had Danny giving her an amused look.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked quietly, as if speaking any louder would kill the moment.
Danny wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Yeah."
Mel rested her head against his chest for a second before pulling back and smiling up at him. "C'mon, Mr. Love, let's get a closer look."
They walked across a large area of green grass, that Mel told him was called the Champ de Mars. She stopped to take pictures while Danny took a good look at the monument and the surrounding area. After getting pictures of first Danny, and then herself in front of the tower, she made him take a picture of the two of them by turning the camera around and stretching his arm out, saying she didn't trust passing strangers with her camera.
As she stuck her camera back in her purse, Danny asked, "So, we going up to the top?"
Mel froze for a second, then her eyes moved up the tower to the top. She felt her stomach drop and shook her head no. "Oh, no, that's ok."
"Why not? It's here, we're here. I think we should go."
"Umm..." Mel paused, trying to think past the sound of blood pounding in her ears. "It would be such a long wait..."
"So was the Louvre." Danny answered with a shrug. "C'mon, we can see all of Paris this way."
"How about we just stick to the first floor?" Mel asked, her voice coming off weaker than she would have liked. She internally kicked herself for it.
Danny looked her over carefully before a grin came to his face. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"
"No." Mel answered, as calmly as she could.
Leaning down, Danny kept right on grinning. "I can always tell when you're lying."
Mel gritted her teeth and chose to ignore him. But Danny wasn't having any of that.
"Is that why you insisted on the aisle seat on the plane?" Danny added. "I was crushed in that tiny seat by the window, with no leg room you know, Melody."
"I know Daniel." Mel answered, crossing her arms. They only used full names when they were having a serious discussion. "You complained the whole time."
Danny let out a huff and looked away. "Yeah, well you try being 6'4" and sit in a tiny seat on two different flights. It's not a good time."
Mel sighed as she looked at his profile. "Sorry." she murmured.
Danny looked back at her, his irritation subsiding. "Let's forget it. But... why didn't you ever tell me you were afraid of heights?"
Mel shrugged. "I dunno. There was no reason to really."
Looking back at the tower, Danny smiled. "Well c'mon, we can at least go up to the first floor. Maybe the second. Is there a second?"
"Yeah." she said, taking the hand he offered her.
"Plus I have plenty of opportunities to convince you to go to the top with me."
Mel rolled her eyes at him. "Won't work."
"I'll remind you of that when we're standing at the top."
Together they walked up to the information stand and got brochures, then stood in line to buy tickets.
Danny whistled at the ticket price. "Eleven Euro to go to the top? We paid less for our breakfast."
"Another reason to forget going all the way up." Mel reasoned. "We can just get the tickets for the first floor."
"But if we get it for the top, does that mean we can go to the first and second floor too?"
Mel shrugged, unsure. When they reached the ticket window, Danny asked the young woman working there if that was the case, and when she confirmed it was, Danny smiled triumphantly.
"Two tickets for the top, please."
Mel groaned. When her man got it into his head to do something, he was going to do it, come hell or high water.
They took the elevator to the first floor, and it was Danny's turn to groan as he saw the place was pretty much another museum.
"Oo, look at this!" Mel exclaimed, dragging him over towards some weird metal thing. He had had no idea what a museum freak she was until they had entered Paris.
"Riveting." Danny stated dryly.
Without missing a beat, Mel dropped his hand and punched him in the arm, which caused a group of nearby Asian schoolgirls to giggle at the sight. Danny narrowed his eyes slighty at them, and they all quickly averted their eyes as they scattered.
He followed Mel around the first floor, looking at every boring piece of junk that was displayed there. A piece of the original spiral staircase, a hydraulic pump for the old elevators, some laser beam thing that showed how much the tower was moving due to the wind... boring.
"Ok, c'mon, second floor." Danny said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the elevator.
"But we haven't--"
"We'll see more on the way back down." Danny answered, ushering her into the elevator that had just happened to open as they reached it. Sometimes he had really great timing.
On the second floor, Danny could immediately catch a whiff of the delicious smelling food coming from the snack bar. There was also a specialty food shop, with chocolate, tea, and other things, as well as a souvenir shop. But what interested Danny was a oval section of the floor that had a railing around it. Walking up to it, Danny realized it was a glass floor, that looked down through another glass floor on the first floor that he had somehow missed, and straight down to the ground.
"Hey, nifty." he said, motioning for Mel to join him. "Check this out."
Mel walked up, but immediately stepped back. "Uh, yeah, nifty. Let's move away now."
Danny chuckled. "We aren't even that high up yet."
"Don't care, moving on." Mel said, quickly moving away to look at some animated window exhibit outlining the tower's construction.
Danny sighed and looked down again. "Well hell, I think it's nifty."
He followed Mel, and came up behind her, watching the display for a second before saying, "You want to take some pictures outside?"
Mel hesistated, but Danny grabbed her hand. "I won't let go." Her shoulders relaxing, Mel nodded.
"Ok." She smiled gratefully up at him, as he led her outside onto the observation deck, holding her hand tightly. Mel was glad that he wasn't teasing her about her fear. It wasn't something she made mention of too often, since it was embarrassing to her.
She fished around her purse with one hand until her fingers found her camera and she pulled it out, struggling to turn it on. Danny lent a hand, and she held it out, looking at the view of Paris through the tiny viewscreen.
Danny let her lead as they walked around the deck, Mel snapping pictures and pointing out landmarks. After several minutes, she grew brave enough to move up to the railing, but she squeezed Danny's hand tighter.
"Wow, the city's so beautiful." Mel murmured, doing that soft-voiced thing again where she didn't want to lose the moment by speaking loudly.
Danny gently moved his free hand to her wrist, letting go of her hand with the other, so he could move behind her and wrap her up in his arms.
"Sure is." he said, resting his chin on her head. He usually wasn't one for public displays of affection, but it was Paris, they were on vacation, and they were never going to see any of the people around them ever again, so he really didn't care about being affectionate.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"Hey, you're the one who's got it all planned out where we're going. I'm just following you."
"No, not here as in the Eiffel Tower. Here as in Paris."
"Ah, well, you're welcome." he answered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she closed her eyes.
"I knew I married you for a reason." she replied, reopening her eyes to view the scene in front of them.
"It was for the honeymoon, wasn't it?"
Laughing, she placed her hands over his. "Oh yes. That, and you can kill spiders on the ceiling without getting a step ladder."
"Glad to know I'm good for something." Danny mumbled, pretending to sound insulted, but Mel felt his lips curve into a smile against her head. A warm feeling spread through her midsection. It was a feeling that only he could give her, and she wondered how she had lucked out and snagged a man like Danny for her own.
Taking a deep breath, Mel rubbed her hand over his. "Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm ready to go to the top now."
THE END
Author: nutmeg610
Rating: PG
Fandom: The Inside
Pairing: Danny/Mel
Prompt: #20 Vacation, from my table
Summary: Danny and Mel vacation in Paris, and Danny discovers a secret fear of Mel's.
Warning: This? Is not angsty Inside fic. This is zomg!cute fic. Just to prepare you...
Notes: I wrote this a looooooooong time ago, and was worried they were OOC b/c I've seen like five episodes, but neroli66 said they were in character so I'll take her word for it. ;)
"Where to now?" Danny asked, sticking his hands into the pockets of his khakis as he glanced at the woman beside him, whose nose was buried in a traveler's guide.
"Mmm... that would be the Eiffel Tower." Mel answered, flipping a page as they continued walking. Danny had to reach out and steer her away from trampling over a little old French lady with a huge baguette sticking out of her bag.
"How about you watch where you're going? You almost killed French Granny."
Mel lifted her eyes to his and frowned. "I just want to read up about it before we get there."
"Well you can read in the cab."
"We're walking."
"We're what?" Danny exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. "Didn't we walk enough at that museum yesterday?"
Mel raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining about walking around the Louvre? About seeing the Mona Lisa? I can't believe you."
"Oh c'mon." Danny reasoned. "That stuff was fun, but we've been walking everywhere for the last two days."
"But that's the best way to see Paris." Mel retorted, looking back down at her book and starting to walk away. With a resigned sigh, Danny followed, realizing he hadn't marched around this much since he'd left the Marines.
"Is it far?" he asked, trying to sound casual about it.
Mel shot him another look. "No. Stop whining."
"I'm not whining." Danny answered.
"Now you're pouting."
"I'm not a three year old, babe."
Mel was thinking of a comeback, but then decided it best to let it slide. She didn't want to pick a fight on their first real vacation together.
"Ok, well, it's really not that far. But if you want to get a cab, we can."
Danny shrugged. "I can stick it out a bit longer." Mel gave him a smile as they continued on.
"It says here that there are two restaurants inside, as well as snack bars and souvenir shops."
"Really?" Danny asked. "I thought it was just a giant... steel frame... thing."
"Iron." Mel corrected. They could finally see it off in the distance and Mel let out a pleased noise that had Danny giving her an amused look.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked quietly, as if speaking any louder would kill the moment.
Danny wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Yeah."
Mel rested her head against his chest for a second before pulling back and smiling up at him. "C'mon, Mr. Love, let's get a closer look."
They walked across a large area of green grass, that Mel told him was called the Champ de Mars. She stopped to take pictures while Danny took a good look at the monument and the surrounding area. After getting pictures of first Danny, and then herself in front of the tower, she made him take a picture of the two of them by turning the camera around and stretching his arm out, saying she didn't trust passing strangers with her camera.
As she stuck her camera back in her purse, Danny asked, "So, we going up to the top?"
Mel froze for a second, then her eyes moved up the tower to the top. She felt her stomach drop and shook her head no. "Oh, no, that's ok."
"Why not? It's here, we're here. I think we should go."
"Umm..." Mel paused, trying to think past the sound of blood pounding in her ears. "It would be such a long wait..."
"So was the Louvre." Danny answered with a shrug. "C'mon, we can see all of Paris this way."
"How about we just stick to the first floor?" Mel asked, her voice coming off weaker than she would have liked. She internally kicked herself for it.
Danny looked her over carefully before a grin came to his face. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"
"No." Mel answered, as calmly as she could.
Leaning down, Danny kept right on grinning. "I can always tell when you're lying."
Mel gritted her teeth and chose to ignore him. But Danny wasn't having any of that.
"Is that why you insisted on the aisle seat on the plane?" Danny added. "I was crushed in that tiny seat by the window, with no leg room you know, Melody."
"I know Daniel." Mel answered, crossing her arms. They only used full names when they were having a serious discussion. "You complained the whole time."
Danny let out a huff and looked away. "Yeah, well you try being 6'4" and sit in a tiny seat on two different flights. It's not a good time."
Mel sighed as she looked at his profile. "Sorry." she murmured.
Danny looked back at her, his irritation subsiding. "Let's forget it. But... why didn't you ever tell me you were afraid of heights?"
Mel shrugged. "I dunno. There was no reason to really."
Looking back at the tower, Danny smiled. "Well c'mon, we can at least go up to the first floor. Maybe the second. Is there a second?"
"Yeah." she said, taking the hand he offered her.
"Plus I have plenty of opportunities to convince you to go to the top with me."
Mel rolled her eyes at him. "Won't work."
"I'll remind you of that when we're standing at the top."
Together they walked up to the information stand and got brochures, then stood in line to buy tickets.
Danny whistled at the ticket price. "Eleven Euro to go to the top? We paid less for our breakfast."
"Another reason to forget going all the way up." Mel reasoned. "We can just get the tickets for the first floor."
"But if we get it for the top, does that mean we can go to the first and second floor too?"
Mel shrugged, unsure. When they reached the ticket window, Danny asked the young woman working there if that was the case, and when she confirmed it was, Danny smiled triumphantly.
"Two tickets for the top, please."
Mel groaned. When her man got it into his head to do something, he was going to do it, come hell or high water.
They took the elevator to the first floor, and it was Danny's turn to groan as he saw the place was pretty much another museum.
"Oo, look at this!" Mel exclaimed, dragging him over towards some weird metal thing. He had had no idea what a museum freak she was until they had entered Paris.
"Riveting." Danny stated dryly.
Without missing a beat, Mel dropped his hand and punched him in the arm, which caused a group of nearby Asian schoolgirls to giggle at the sight. Danny narrowed his eyes slighty at them, and they all quickly averted their eyes as they scattered.
He followed Mel around the first floor, looking at every boring piece of junk that was displayed there. A piece of the original spiral staircase, a hydraulic pump for the old elevators, some laser beam thing that showed how much the tower was moving due to the wind... boring.
"Ok, c'mon, second floor." Danny said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the elevator.
"But we haven't--"
"We'll see more on the way back down." Danny answered, ushering her into the elevator that had just happened to open as they reached it. Sometimes he had really great timing.
On the second floor, Danny could immediately catch a whiff of the delicious smelling food coming from the snack bar. There was also a specialty food shop, with chocolate, tea, and other things, as well as a souvenir shop. But what interested Danny was a oval section of the floor that had a railing around it. Walking up to it, Danny realized it was a glass floor, that looked down through another glass floor on the first floor that he had somehow missed, and straight down to the ground.
"Hey, nifty." he said, motioning for Mel to join him. "Check this out."
Mel walked up, but immediately stepped back. "Uh, yeah, nifty. Let's move away now."
Danny chuckled. "We aren't even that high up yet."
"Don't care, moving on." Mel said, quickly moving away to look at some animated window exhibit outlining the tower's construction.
Danny sighed and looked down again. "Well hell, I think it's nifty."
He followed Mel, and came up behind her, watching the display for a second before saying, "You want to take some pictures outside?"
Mel hesistated, but Danny grabbed her hand. "I won't let go." Her shoulders relaxing, Mel nodded.
"Ok." She smiled gratefully up at him, as he led her outside onto the observation deck, holding her hand tightly. Mel was glad that he wasn't teasing her about her fear. It wasn't something she made mention of too often, since it was embarrassing to her.
She fished around her purse with one hand until her fingers found her camera and she pulled it out, struggling to turn it on. Danny lent a hand, and she held it out, looking at the view of Paris through the tiny viewscreen.
Danny let her lead as they walked around the deck, Mel snapping pictures and pointing out landmarks. After several minutes, she grew brave enough to move up to the railing, but she squeezed Danny's hand tighter.
"Wow, the city's so beautiful." Mel murmured, doing that soft-voiced thing again where she didn't want to lose the moment by speaking loudly.
Danny gently moved his free hand to her wrist, letting go of her hand with the other, so he could move behind her and wrap her up in his arms.
"Sure is." he said, resting his chin on her head. He usually wasn't one for public displays of affection, but it was Paris, they were on vacation, and they were never going to see any of the people around them ever again, so he really didn't care about being affectionate.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"Hey, you're the one who's got it all planned out where we're going. I'm just following you."
"No, not here as in the Eiffel Tower. Here as in Paris."
"Ah, well, you're welcome." he answered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she closed her eyes.
"I knew I married you for a reason." she replied, reopening her eyes to view the scene in front of them.
"It was for the honeymoon, wasn't it?"
Laughing, she placed her hands over his. "Oh yes. That, and you can kill spiders on the ceiling without getting a step ladder."
"Glad to know I'm good for something." Danny mumbled, pretending to sound insulted, but Mel felt his lips curve into a smile against her head. A warm feeling spread through her midsection. It was a feeling that only he could give her, and she wondered how she had lucked out and snagged a man like Danny for her own.
Taking a deep breath, Mel rubbed her hand over his. "Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm ready to go to the top now."
THE END