FIc: Sugar Rush

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Sugar Rush
Chapters: 1/1
Author: csi_sanders1129
Genre: Humor. Romance.
Ratings: T
Word Count: 2,396
Pairings/Characters: Ryan/Sergey. Mentions of other PRS team members.
Synopsis: 5 times Ryan distracts Sergey with various candy items and 1 time Ryan gets sick of pretending to be oblivious.
Comments: Written in response to a commentfic prompt by cynic_fic , but it got out of hand and became this (and also upped my NaNoWriMo wordcount and also as a response to a kissbingo  prompt of ‘chocolate’ ). Those from Paranormal State belong solely to themselves and I mean no harm. If any of the PRS kids end up reading this, well, google was obviously not your friend. Comments are awesome and enjoy!

 

- 1 -

They're stuck in some creepy, cluttered attic during Dead Time. The clients are at a hotel, no doubt sleeping soundly for the first time in a while, but Ryan and Sergey and the rest of the PRS crew are set up at the house.

Tech is in the dining room, monitors running and camera feeds organized.

"Alright," Ryan draws over their comm. systems, "Dead Time's over, we're not getting anything here."

Then comes the usual mad rush to get everything organized and powered down – expect for the audio recorders and some choice cameras which they leave running overnight – and now it's all on Sergey and Josh to start looking over the data they collected (or, in this case, didn't collect).

"I'm running out for some coffee," Josh tells him, already making for the door. "I'll bring you back something."

Sergey just hums in agreement and keeps his eyes on the camera feed he's analyzing, zones out so that nothing but he and the computers exist.

Most of the crew is gone by the time Sergey is aware of anything outside of his screens again. No one really ever sticks around at the house if they don't have to be there. Which is why he's surprised when suddenly there's a voice from behind him.

"Whole lot of nothin', right?" Ryan asks, leaning over Sergey's shoulder to peer at the screen. "Josh texted me – his car blew a tire, so he'll be a while."

"Great," he mumbles mostly to himself. No Josh means no coffee which means no consciousness. As if on cue, upon this realization, he yawns. "You leaving, then?"

Ryan shrugs, and continues to loom over Sergey's shoulder. "Think I'll stick around until Josh gets back, at least. If you don't mind."

"No, you can keep me awake," Sergey jokes, letting his eyes wander back to the very boring non-activity on the screens. He hears Ryan pull Josh's chair closer to the screens that are actually on and does his best not to touch the technology.

"This might rank as one of the most boring Dead Times we've ever had," Ryan says as the footage speeds by on screen.

Sergey mumbles his concurrence with such a statement and it is then that he happens to catch sight of the stark, white stick poking out of the side of Ryan's mouth. He finds this overwhelmingly distracting, especially when he sees Ryan roll the lollipop on his tongue. Since when is Ryan this distracting? Maybe he is simply more tired than he imagined he was.

"Serg?"

"Hm?" He mumbles in reply, forcing his eyes to focus on the screens again, as he pointedly ignores Ryan and his blasted watermelon lollipop.

Josh doesn't get back before Sergey finishes going through the evidence. He's not sure if it's weird that it doesn't bother him all that much.

- 2 -

They're at a PRS interview with some local radio station over the start of the new season of Paranormal State. Their interviewer, Kelly, her name is, seems mostly interested in what Ryan has to say, asking about his upcoming book and his new role he is rumored to have in regards to control of the show these days, and Sergey is perfectly okay with that.

"Okay, everyone," Kelly says once they're a good ways into the interview, "we'll be back in a few moments with more from Ryan Buell and Sergey Poberhezney from A&E's Paranormal State!"

With that, they go off the air, and another of the disc jockeys turns to them with a grin. "So, what do you guys think so far? This is your first radio thing, right?" He asks, offering water bottles and a glass bowl filled with M&M candies.

Ryan grabs a handful of the candy-coated chocolate, but Sergey's not even really paying attention at the moment. "Yeah," Ryan says, "It's cool. Weird, but cool."

"Back on the air in 15," an ominous voice from the other room announces via some sort of overhead PA system.

Kelly nods and motions her guests back toward the microphones. "You ready to keep going?"

Ryan 'hmms' in agreement, popping the last of the M&M's into his mouth.

Sergey does notice that they seem to have succeeded in tinting Ryan's lips just the slightest shade of candy-red. He hears Ryan and their interviewer talking, continuing on with the conversation from where it left off before the break, but he honestly has no idea what is being said at the moment. He is far too fixated on staring at Ryan's lips.

"Serg?... Sergey!" Ryan's amused voice stirs him from his trance and back into reality. "Favorite episode, what about you?" Ryan asks, and at least he seems aware that Sergey isn't totally paying attention and restates the questions for his benefit.

"Oh," he mumbles. "Oh, ugh, the Las Vegas case, I'd have to say. If only because we got to go to Vegas."

"Hm," Ryan grins, and Sergey focuses hard on staring at the water bottle gripped in his hands than at those damned lips. "Thought so."

- 3 -

"You see, this is why I can't believe that you're willing to pay ten bucks for a thing of popcorn at the movies. You can buy three boxes of popcorn with that at any grocery store." Sergey honestly doesn't know why he bothers arguing this point every single time he goes to the movies or even watches a movie at home with Ryan. Somehow the PRS director always ends up dodging the subject after just a few minutes.

Ryan's method this time involves a response of, "be nice or I won't share with you."

Sergey laughs and follows him past from the kitchen to the basement where their flat-screen is set up amidst some impressive tech and an ample DVD collection. "I could always just got make my own." They're watching some recently released horror movie – all about demonic possession and exorcisms (as if they need more of that kind of thing in their lives) – and Sergey has them set up on the main menu screen before Ryan has even had the chance to sit down.

"Heard it's pretty spooky, how 'bout you?" Ryan asks, settling their drinks on the coffee table in front of them and balancing the popcorn so that Sergey can reach it if he is so inclined.

"Can it be spookier than the things we've dealt with out here in reality?" Sergey counters, and Ryan can't really argue with that response at all.

The lights get turned out, Xander sprawls out on the floor at their feet, and the movie starts.

It's sometime in the lull between one seriously dramatic event and the big, dramatic plot twist part of the movie that Sergey happens to notice Ryan move to do away with the popcorn butter that has accumulated on his fingers by sucking lightly at them.

Any and all attention Sergey was paying the movie is abruptly redirected to focus on his new favorite activity – staring at Ryan.

He is so focused on Ryan that when the end of the movie comes with a bloody figure launching at the screen and screeching, Sergey is caught seriously off guard. "Holy hell!" He exclaims, nearly knocking over the half empty bowl of popcorn in the process, instinctively grabbing at Ryan's arm in his state of unexpected panic.

Ryan laughs at him, even though he jumped in surprise, too, and grins. "Jeez, Serg, if you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask," he jokes, reaching for the remote.

- 4 -

It's Ryan's birthday and pretty much everyone from PRS, Ryan's family, and other assorted friends have all congregated within Ryan and Sergey's house. It's pretty crowded, all things considered, but they're all having a good time (even Xander, who is getting ridiculous amounts of attention), and Sergey is determined to make it through this party without distracting himself by thinking about Ryan.

"Sergeyyyyy," Ryan's somewhat intoxicated voice draws out his name from several rooms over. This summoning call is followed by an excited announcement of, "There's cake!"

He laughs at his best friend's rather childish response to the sugary-coated pile of sugary deliciousness that is settled on the counter in the kitchen. Nonetheless, once he worms his way through the gatherings of people arranged throughout his house, he ends up standing right beside Ryan and his beloved cake.

Everyone else wanders into the room, too, and then comes the traditional 'Happy Birthday' chorus.

Ryan blows out his candles and Sergey keeps his mind out of the gutter.

"Mm, it's delicious," Ryan groans in delight as he plucks one of the candles from the cake and licks the icing off of it. "Alright," he declares with a grin, "who wants cake!"

Amidst the array of 'Me's and 'I do's from the gathered party guests, Sergey admits to himself (and only to himself) that while the cake certainly looks tempting, what he really wants is to kiss the stray bit of icing off of Ryan's lips.

- 5 -

Halloween night comes and with it a surprising amount of trick-or-treaters. They have a bowl of candy sitting by the door and every few minutes the John Carpenter Film Festival (sometimes cheesy horror villains are more palatable than demonic possession flicks, especially in their careers) that they've been watching all night gets interrupted while they take turns at answering the door.

"Your turn," Sergey comments idly as he pauses the movie for what has to be something like the thirty-seventh time in the last hour. Xander isn't even barking at the doorbell anymore, he's become immune.

It only takes a moment for Ryan to deal with the quintet of trick-or-treaters: one is some Disney princess, another a little bitty pumpkin escorted by parents in street clothes; there's a pirate, and a boy and girl dressed respectively as a wizard and witch, in the style of Harry Potter. He hands them their candy and Ryan returns to the movie.

"We're almost out of candy," he remarks, having noted that the bowl was pretty much empty after this last trip, especially after he'd claimed a few pieces for himself.

Sergey laughs at him and plays the movie again. "Well, maybe if you'd stop snacking on it, that wouldn't happen so fast. We have another bag in the kitchen, I think."

Ryan nods, and he vaguely remembers seeing the bag of assorted candy sitting on the counter. "Mm, that's right," he mumbles as he opens a fun size bag of candy corn.

For some inexplicable reason, Sergey finds himself unable to look away and he watches at the orange and yellow and white candy pokes out from between Ryan's lips for the briefest of seconds before he's following the movement of Ryan's throat as he swallows.

The movie's still playing, but just like last time he tried to sit through a movie with Ryan, he ends up completely distracted. This time it is not a screaming character who snaps him back to the here and now, but Ryan, waving his hand at Sergey. "What?"

"Door, your turn." He explains as he pops two more pieces of sugary candy into his mouth. He grins at Sergey a second later with the two pieces held against his teeth like a vampire.

"I vant to suck your blood," Ryan says, in a ridiculous accent.

Sergey laughs as he passes by, "Whatever you say, Dracula. I just hope you don't sparkle – you'll terrify the trick-or-treaters." He skillfully dodges the few remaining pieces of candy corn that Ryan throws at his back and resists the urge to reply any further to that ridiculously cheesy comment.

- +1 -

Two days after Halloween and Sergey comes home from checking some things at the PRS Office to find a trail of leftover candy starting from the front door and leading down the hall to their rooms.

His first thought is concern for Xander, because there is chocolate on the ground and that is not a good thing, but he can hear their dog barking his greeting from his crate in the living room, so that's not presently an issue.

"What the hell, Ryan?" He asks himself – because who else could be responsible for this insanity? – and he picks the various candies up off the floor as he follows their path to Ryan's room.

"Serg?" Ryan calls out, even though he already knows it's Sergey – the only person who wouldn't be confused by a trail of candies.

"I'll assume you have a reason for the trail of breadcrumbs?" He asks as he deposits the handful of candy on the desk by the door before crossing the room to stand in front of Ryan, who had been leaning against the wall on the far side of the room.

Ryan hesitates in his answer, but pushes off of the wall to stand closer to his best friend. "Several. But mostly I'm tired of pretending that I don't notice you staring at me, without any sort of subtlety at all and then not doing anything."

"What're you talk-" Sergey starts to argue, but he cuts himself off and opts not to fight something Ryan has already called him on. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to do something, if you even knew what you were doing to me."

"I had a pretty good idea." Ryan counters, and they both kind of laugh at their mutual silence on the matter at hand.

Somewhere in the awkward moment that follows the resulting break in conversation, Sergey decides that he's done enough staring and it's time to act like Ryan had been waiting for him to. He moves forward, through what little space remain between them and then his lips are on Ryan's and he's pressing him back against the wall.

Ryan moves to match his friend's movements, one hand settling on Sergey's hip, pulling him in closer, and the other tugging lightly at his hair. "Hnng," Ryan mumbles out unintelligibly as he moves to suck at Sergey's neck, earning a groan from the other boy in the process.

Sergey manages to catch Ryan in a second kiss, biting gently at his lower lip as one hand works its way under the well-worn PSU hoodie Ryan's wearing.

"You know," Ryan half-laughs just before he presses his lips against Sergey's again, "I am so sick of candy?"