Oneshots and Other Things

Catch Me

A combination of low inspiration (someone tell me why I only want to update my series at the moment XD) and a usual craving for random angst has led to this...

Just a oneshot (not a series this time) and I'm not sold on the ending but hey - enjoy, I guess?!

(*~*)

"Don't even joke about that, Stephen!"

Ant rolled his eyes fondly at Dec's exasperated tone, tugging his coat around himself as the stiff breeze outside the studio refused to let up. He rubbed his hands together, bouncing on the balls of his feet as the crew hustled around them.

More specifically, they were fussing over Stephen. The younger man was being strapped into a harness, a helmet tucked under one arm as he stared down a more than irate Dec who continued to get in the way of everyone in his persistence to finish this particular argument.

"Catch me if I fall?" he continued, the heat in his voice making Stephen look as if he regretted making that joke. "Why the hell would you say that?"

"Trying to lighten the mood?" Stephen tried, raising an eyebrow and meeting Ant's gaze. "Won't be doing that again." Ant huffed out a laugh, stifling it when Dec momentarily turned that glare on him. He concentrated instead on Stephen, waiting for Dec to stop looking so frustratedly at him. The younger man looked like he was going to try and backtrack, to calm the evident concern radiating from Dec.

"You do one of these every week," he said more reasonably, "What's got you in a state about this one?"

Dec was having none of it, throwing his arm out to gesture around them indicatively. "The bloody gale-force wind isn't doing much to calm me down."

"It's not gale-force," Stephen started to reply.

"Well, it's hardly a slight breeze, is it?"

"Dec, we have safety people for a reason," Ant interjected, feeling sympathetic enough to try and rescue Stephen from another interrogation. There was no missing Stephen's display of nerves, his dislike for heights showing itself proudly across his face and Ant was fairly sure Dec wasn't helping matters, regardless of his well-meaning intentions.

"You know you two agreed to this, right?" Stephen added, "Like, I'm pretty sure you were all for it at the start of the series. A bit of revenge... is that ringing a bell?"

Dec rolled his eyes, scuffing his shoes together like a scorned teenager. Stephen seemed relatively satisfied, even if he would have some patching up to do with the older man later. He shared another look with Ant, both of them knowing how Dec got when he was feeling particularly protective.

"One minute until we're live!"

"Right, we should head back over there," Ant said, smiling lopsidedly at Stephen, "I'd say enjoy yourself, nonsense, but I don't think you're going to."

"That would rather defeat the point, wouldn't it?" Stephen replied wryly, wrinkling his nose as he glanced up at the structure stretching up above them. "It's only a couple of minutes. I'll live."

Dec still seemed to be in a bit of a huff. Ant waited for him to say something; either some continuation of their bickering or a genuine display of concern; but he remained stubbornly mute.

Stephen pressed his mouth into a calculating straight line, looking slightly dejected but choosing not to say anything else as he was called over to the foot of the ladder he'd need to climb for the challenge. Ant watched him go, all too aware of the slight tremors running through his hands. Stephen was pretty transparent when it came to this sort of thing – the humour was always a coping mechanism.