Work Text:
Picture This
by Buffy
Notes: things between // are italics, but since I can't get yahoo to do that without messing up the whole story, I improvise. And I'm sorry, it's a sorta-silly, basically gen story, but that's the way it ended up. Besides, there's still the rest of the pictures in the envelope to see, right? *wink wink*
Miles picked at the lunch the conference provided, his summer of working in a hotel kitchen back in high school still made him reluctant to eat conference food. At least he wasn't alone in his misery. Frank had drawn the other short straw on the team to make a short presentation for general practitioners from the Midwest and west coast.
"Frank! Frank Powell, you old dog! How long's it been, five years?" Miles turned to see a large bear of a man hurrying over to their table.
"Joe Danvers, is that you? Man, it's been too long. How's Patty?" The two men grinned and exchanged hearty handshakes and back slaps, obviously old friends.
"Patty's good, still terrorizing her students, whipping them into shape for college. You still working with the NIH?"
The mention of NIH reminded must have reminded Frank, because he made the introductions, "Miles, this is Joe Danvers, pediatrician. He went to med school with Stephen and me. Hoe, this is Miles McCabe, the newest member of the team. Pity the poor guy; he's stuck with me and Stephen as mentors."
"Sorry to hear that, kid, but it's good to meet you. Listen, lunch is almost over, and I'm leaving early tomorrow, but I'd love to catch up sometime. Call me, Patty'd love to hear from you. Do me a favor and give Dandelion a hard time for me."
Miles was sure he had misunderstood. There was no way Joe meant who Miles thought he meant, and he couldn't stop himself from asking, "Dandelion?"
Frank looked guilty but mischievous, while Joe just grinned. "Yeah, I'm betting you haven't heard about that one. Stephen learned the hard way not to play `Truth or Dare' while doing tequila shooters." If possible Joe's grin got wider, "Tell you what, I'll send you some proof of Dandy's wilder days. D.C. to Sunnyvale /should/ give me a good enough head start on him." He laughed as he clapped Miles on the back and moved off.
Miles turned back to Frank, "Should I be worried?"
"Depends on which pictures from those days Joe sends you. Come on, the lunch break is almost over, we need to get to the next presentation."
By the time the conference ended the next day, Miles had forgotten Joe's promise to send him pictures. But two days after he got back, he got an envelope at work. Inside was a smaller manila envelope that was marked "Photosâ€"copies only, sorry Dandy!" There was a post-it note attached that said "for maximum effect, show in large group". Miles' curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the envelope for a quick peek. Once he had his laughter under control, he headed towards the labs. He knew he'd find Natalie, Frank, and Stephen there, and maybe even Eva, too.
Miles was in luck. It had been a quiet week, and he managed to catch Natalie and Eva chatting while Natalie was waiting for an analysis to finish. Frank and Stephen were on the other side of the lab, discussing something.
"Miles, you're scaring me. What is that smile about?" Eva noticed him first, and called him on the smirk he couldn't get rid of.
"Got something interesting in the mail today, thought you guys might be interested." He waved the envelope a little before he opened it and pulled out the top picture. Neither woman could keep from giggling at the image: A younger Frank lounged on the steps of a building, obviously holding his friend in the shot with a headlock. A young Stephen glared out of the picture, but the best part of the picture was their hair. Frank had his in a small afro complete with a pick stuck in it, and Stephen's hair matched it.
"They dared me to give myself a home perm. /That/ was the result." Stephen's curt explanation only made the two women laugh harder.
"So I'm assuming that's where the nickname `Dandelion' came from, right?"
Stephen glared at Frank, who took a step back, "Hey, man, don't blame me. We ran into Joe at the conference, he was the one who let that cat outta the bag."
Stephen rolled his eyes a bit, then grinned reluctantly. "All right, all right, enough laughing at the boss's expense. I pay you work, don't I?"
Natalie wiped her eyes as she swallowed back the last of her giggles, "/You/ don't pay us, the government does. Ow, my side hurts from laughing so much, but it was definitely worth it to see that. Thanks, Miles."
Miles decided to wait to go through the others until the next time the team needed a good laugh. "No problem, anytime."
end