oxfordtweed: Nicholas Angel on the phone with text on the bottom reading 'Can't talk now... I'm moving to Wales.' (Nicholas - Wales)
Danny's Sketchbook (1046 words) by faviconOxfordTweed
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas Angel/Danny Butterman
Characters: Nicholas Angel, Danny Butterman

Summary: Danny doesn't draw only in his notebook.


It's funny how one new item can mean rearranging an entire room. An accident with a Nintendo Wii controller had left Danny without a television for nearly a fortnight, until such time when he could make it into Buford Abbey to replace it. The new one, a high-def LCD display with multiple sets of RCA ports, was much bigger than his old set, and did not even come close to fitting on the old stand. It was suggested that the new set be mounted on the wall, so the stand was moved to the bedroom (for the time being), nearly-empty book cases were moved to the other side of the room to make space on the wall, a table was moved to make space for the book cases, and boxes were stacked in the kitchen to make room for the table. It was a lot of work on what should have been their day off, but even Nicholas had to admit that the picture looked amazing.

Somewhere in the middle of True Lies, Nicholas got up and moved into the kitchen, taking a handful of empty beer cans with him to put in the sink. As he made his way to the refrigerator to fetch two fresh cans, he misjudged the integrity of a stack of boxes, sending several crashing to the ground.

"Fuck! Sorry!" he called, immediately forgetting the beer and bending to pick up the mess.

"What'd you break, now?" Danny shouted back, getting up from the sofa. He found Nicholas on the kitchen floor, struggling to determine whether he should put the spilled contents back in the box, or leave it unpacked, and find places for everything. "Here," Danny said, making the decision for him. He took the notebooks from Nicholas' hands and dropped them all back in the box.

"What's this?" Nicholas asked, finding a very old and very used black hardbound book.

"That's nothing!" Danny insisted as he reached for the book.

Realizing that it was anything but, Nicholas twisted out of the way, keeping the book from Danny's reach. "No, really," Nicholas asked, holding it shut tightly. "What is it?"

Danny reached for it again, but he knew Nicholas wouldn't open it without permission. Even when being an annoying twat, he was still courteous about it. "S'just an old sketchbook," he said.

Nicholas stepped around what was left of the stack of boxes, still trying to evade Danny. "Really?" he said, looking down at the plain cover. Danny could see that Nicholas really wanted to open it, but he still fought the urge.

"Yes, really," Danny said, lunching toward Nicholas, but the other man jumped out of the way and ran toward the sofa. Danny followed, laughing, and pinned him into the cushions. "Give it back!"

Nicholas held the book as far above his head as possible, keeping it at such a distance that Danny could easily grab it, but it would mean unpinning Nicholas. "Let me see."

"Why?" He tried to reach for the sketchbook, but did not want to unpin Nicholas. The wiry little bastard would just run to the other side of the room, and Danny still would not have the sketchbook.

"Because I want to see," Nicholas replied, as logically as he could manage after two DVDs and five beers. He tried to remove himself from beneath Danny's weight, but only managed to get pushed further into the cushions. Danny's hand found the inside of Nicholas' thigh, and pinched, eliciting a startled bark of a laugh, but he still didn't give the book up.

"That's not an answer," Danny said, finally lifting himself up just enough to be able to reach the book. Just as his fingers managed to touch the cover, Nicholas managed to snake away, and ran -- book still in tow -- to the other side of the room.

"I'll just have to look at it when you're asleep." They both knew that was a lie, but Danny still chased after him and pinned him into the wall.

"Give it back!" He couldn't reach that spot on Nicholas' thigh, so he went for the ribs, instead. Learning that Inspector Nicholas Angel was ticklish had been the single greatest joy of Danny's life, and it was a weakness he rarely hesitated to exploit.

"No!" Danny finally managed to snatch the book away from Nicholas' grip and left him shaking against the wall as he returned to the sofa. Tears in his eyes, Nicholas followed him back to the sofa. "Why not?" Nicholas asked.

"Because some of them are really old," Danny said.

"So?" Nicholas said, settling up against Danny's side. "I promise I won't laugh."

Danny gave him a sceptical look, and then gave in and gave the sketchbook back to Nicholas. "You better not."

"I won't." He carefully opened the cover, flipping slowly through graphite drawings of superheroes and monsters and assorted people that Nicholas knew were from somewhere insanely popular, no doubt. "How long have you been drawing?" he asked.

Danny shrugged. "I'unno," he said. "Since I was a kid. I nearly failed maths because I drew on my homework instead of actually doing it."

Nicholas laughed, but not at the drawings. "You're kidding?"

Danny responded with his own laugh, looking at the pages as Nicholas flipped through them. "Oh, god," he muttered suddenly, burying his face in his hands.

Nicholas stopped at the next page. "Who's this?" he asked. "Is this supposed to be me?"

"No," Danny lied, rather unconvincingly.

The person that was not Nicholas Angel wore a police uniform, and carried a small arsenal of firearms, with little explosions on the sides of the pages. He even wore the sunglasses that Nicholas had become rather fond of. "Who is it, then?" he asked.

"Nobody," Danny said, snatching the book away again. "You're done." He put the sketchbook down on the floor, beside the sofa.

Nicholas leaned against Danny's side again, looking up at him. "I thought they were very good," he said honestly. "Do you have any more?"

Danny shrugged. "A few," he said. "I had to start buying them when you stopped letting me draw in my notebook."

"Where are they?" Nicholas asked, jumping back up and making his way toward the kitchen.

Danny immediately jumped up after him. "NO!"
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