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Five Ways Nicholas Apologised (1265 words) by 
OxfordTweed
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: Nicholas realises that he's a total prick, and tries to make up for that.
It wasn't the missed birthdays or the long hours. It wasn't even that he'd called out someone else's name like an idiot. It was very much a part of it, but what it really came down to was a lethal combination of some of the above, all of the above, and an assortment of other small mistakes over the months. Missed dates, embarrassing encounters, and actually calling out someone else's name in bed were just the icing on the cake.
It might have been easier if Danny had actually broken up with him, but he instead went the route of just completely ignoring him. He'd started going out on patrol with Tony, leaving Nicholas to sitanole in his office, actually inspectoring for a bloody change.
After a long, confusing search on the internet, Nicholas called Danny into his office. Danny sulked inside, shutting the door behind him.
"What you want?" he asked flatly, looking at the floor, the wall, out the window -- anywhere but at Nicholas.
"Have you heard much about this..." he looked at his monitor, "...Forbidden Kingdom?" he asked.
Danny shrugged. "Why?"
"It opens tonight," Nicholas said softly. "Did you want to go see it?"
For a moment, Danny considered as he chewed on his lip. "No," he said. "I got things to take care of at home."
"What about this weekend?" Nicholas asked.
Danny shook his head and opened the door. "Maybe some other time." He left the office, shutting the door between himself and Nicholas.
Nicholas didn't often spend the night at Danny's. It was something he discouraged, in fact, but knowing that he couldn't if he wanted to was beginning to make him incredibly lonely. He didn't want to be single again. He didn't want to be going to sleep alone every night. As a result, he wasn't really sleeping. And not sleeping meant not being able to concentrate at work.
He decided he would go to the pub.
There was no point in sitting around in his office, pretending to work. Ironically enough, he wasn't actually accomplishing anything in doing so. He made his way to the locker room and changed before walking to the pub. He wasn't particularly surprised to see Danny already there, sitting alone at the bar.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Nicholas asked as he slid into the space next to Danny.
Danny shrugged. "Can't stop you," he said dully. "You do whatever you want, anyway."
"That's not true," Nicholas said.
"Yeah," Danny said. "It is."
A man Nicholas didn't recognize from anywhere suddenly walked up to the bar, standing between him and Danny. "You ready?" the strange man said.
Danny cast a quick glance at Nicholas before looking up at his friend. "Yeah," he said. He got up from his spot, leaving a few quid for Mark, the new bartender, and followed his friend outside, leaving Nicholas to buy drinks for himself.
Danny liked coming in to work to find gifts on his desk as much as the next person, but not right now, and not when those gifts were from Nicholas Angel. He never bought gifts for anyone unless it was because he was trying to apologize for something.
He was trying to apologize for a lot of somethings.
The brown paper-wrapped box on Danny's desk was not a particularly large box, but it did have a bit of weight to it. Sighing deeply, Danny sat down at his desk and held the box in front of him for a few long minutes, trying to decide what to do with it. Eventually, he decided he would open it.
It was a shame that Nicholas only bought gifts when he had done something wrong, because it was a rather nice gift. A new sketchbook, a box of inking pens, and two sets of pencils -- one a box of graphite drawing pencils, and the other a box of expensive colouring pencils.
Danny wanted to pretend that it was a birthday or Christmas gift, and not an "I'm sorry I'm such a twat" gift, but he was a hard person to convince. He closed the lid of the box back over its contents, and hid it away in the bottom drawer of his desk before grabbing up his hat and fetching Tony for their patrol.
Nicholas was pissed. Extremely, vision-blurringly, stumbling over things that weren't there pissed. He wasn't much of a drinker, and he probably shouldn't have gone for the liquor after the two pints of bitter, but he really, really needed a hard drink.
He'd meant to go home. He really, really wanted to go home and proactively sleep off his hangover, but his feet seemed to have other intentions. Without realizing where he was going, he found himself outside Danny's flat.
The lights were even on.
"Danny!" he shouted, banging on the door. "I'm Sorry! Dan--"
He stepped back awkwardly when the man he'd seen Danny hanging around with threw open the door.
"He doesn't want to see you," he said, standing in the way of letting Nicholas see what was going on inside.
"I'd like to hear that from Danny," Nicholas said.
"Too bad," Danny's friend responded. "He doesn't want to talk to you, which goes along with the whole 'not wanting to see you' thing."
Nicholas frowned. "How do I know you're not just making that up?" he asked.
Danny's friend shook his head, caught off guard when Nicholas tried to muscle his way inside. "Danny!" he called out. The new friend was bigger than Nicholas, and Nicholas had been drinking, so it wasn't a fair match. He tried to fight back when he was picked up off his feet, but by the time he realized what was happening, he was being tossed onto the lawn.
"Piss off!" The friend walked back inside and slammed the door, surprised to find Danny standing in the front room.
Nicholas meant to sit down on the fountain, but misjudged the distance, and instead sat on the ground, leaning against the fountain. He cradled his head (which was hurting quite a lot, though he wasn't sure if it was from drink, or from the tumble he took on Danny's front lawn) in his hands, and looked at his shoes. Maybe he would put in for a transfer somewhere else. He'd heard good things about Cornwall. Maybe he could even find some place where the entire town wasn't off its nut.
He jumped sharply when he suddenly noticed that someone was next to him. He looked up, surprised to find Danny, in his jacket and pyjamas.
"What you doing shouting up the neighbourhood?" Danny asked. "You arrest people for that, and now you're doing it?"
Nicholas shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Who was that?"
Danny shook his head. "Weren't nobody," he said. "Just a friend."
"You never..."
"No," Danny said simply. "Just a friend."
Nicholas sniffled sharply. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I know I buggered things up, but I don't want to lose you."
Danny put an arm around Nicholas' shoulders. "You never lost me, love," he said lightly. "I just needed some space, yeah."
Nicholas leant into Danny's shoulder."I'm so sorry," he repeated.
Danny gently rubbed Nicholas' shoulder. "I know," he said softly. He looked around the lighted street. "This is where we first met, inn'it?" he asked. "Only I were the drunk one." Nicholas only nodded. "Come on," Danny said after a moment. "Let's get you home." He pulled Nicholas to his feet and, supporting his weight, walked Nicholas home.
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: Nicholas realises that he's a total prick, and tries to make up for that.
It wasn't the missed birthdays or the long hours. It wasn't even that he'd called out someone else's name like an idiot. It was very much a part of it, but what it really came down to was a lethal combination of some of the above, all of the above, and an assortment of other small mistakes over the months. Missed dates, embarrassing encounters, and actually calling out someone else's name in bed were just the icing on the cake.
It might have been easier if Danny had actually broken up with him, but he instead went the route of just completely ignoring him. He'd started going out on patrol with Tony, leaving Nicholas to sitanole in his office, actually inspectoring for a bloody change.
After a long, confusing search on the internet, Nicholas called Danny into his office. Danny sulked inside, shutting the door behind him.
"What you want?" he asked flatly, looking at the floor, the wall, out the window -- anywhere but at Nicholas.
"Have you heard much about this..." he looked at his monitor, "...Forbidden Kingdom?" he asked.
Danny shrugged. "Why?"
"It opens tonight," Nicholas said softly. "Did you want to go see it?"
For a moment, Danny considered as he chewed on his lip. "No," he said. "I got things to take care of at home."
"What about this weekend?" Nicholas asked.
Danny shook his head and opened the door. "Maybe some other time." He left the office, shutting the door between himself and Nicholas.
Nicholas didn't often spend the night at Danny's. It was something he discouraged, in fact, but knowing that he couldn't if he wanted to was beginning to make him incredibly lonely. He didn't want to be single again. He didn't want to be going to sleep alone every night. As a result, he wasn't really sleeping. And not sleeping meant not being able to concentrate at work.
He decided he would go to the pub.
There was no point in sitting around in his office, pretending to work. Ironically enough, he wasn't actually accomplishing anything in doing so. He made his way to the locker room and changed before walking to the pub. He wasn't particularly surprised to see Danny already there, sitting alone at the bar.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Nicholas asked as he slid into the space next to Danny.
Danny shrugged. "Can't stop you," he said dully. "You do whatever you want, anyway."
"That's not true," Nicholas said.
"Yeah," Danny said. "It is."
A man Nicholas didn't recognize from anywhere suddenly walked up to the bar, standing between him and Danny. "You ready?" the strange man said.
Danny cast a quick glance at Nicholas before looking up at his friend. "Yeah," he said. He got up from his spot, leaving a few quid for Mark, the new bartender, and followed his friend outside, leaving Nicholas to buy drinks for himself.
Danny liked coming in to work to find gifts on his desk as much as the next person, but not right now, and not when those gifts were from Nicholas Angel. He never bought gifts for anyone unless it was because he was trying to apologize for something.
He was trying to apologize for a lot of somethings.
The brown paper-wrapped box on Danny's desk was not a particularly large box, but it did have a bit of weight to it. Sighing deeply, Danny sat down at his desk and held the box in front of him for a few long minutes, trying to decide what to do with it. Eventually, he decided he would open it.
It was a shame that Nicholas only bought gifts when he had done something wrong, because it was a rather nice gift. A new sketchbook, a box of inking pens, and two sets of pencils -- one a box of graphite drawing pencils, and the other a box of expensive colouring pencils.
Danny wanted to pretend that it was a birthday or Christmas gift, and not an "I'm sorry I'm such a twat" gift, but he was a hard person to convince. He closed the lid of the box back over its contents, and hid it away in the bottom drawer of his desk before grabbing up his hat and fetching Tony for their patrol.
Nicholas was pissed. Extremely, vision-blurringly, stumbling over things that weren't there pissed. He wasn't much of a drinker, and he probably shouldn't have gone for the liquor after the two pints of bitter, but he really, really needed a hard drink.
He'd meant to go home. He really, really wanted to go home and proactively sleep off his hangover, but his feet seemed to have other intentions. Without realizing where he was going, he found himself outside Danny's flat.
The lights were even on.
"Danny!" he shouted, banging on the door. "I'm Sorry! Dan--"
He stepped back awkwardly when the man he'd seen Danny hanging around with threw open the door.
"He doesn't want to see you," he said, standing in the way of letting Nicholas see what was going on inside.
"I'd like to hear that from Danny," Nicholas said.
"Too bad," Danny's friend responded. "He doesn't want to talk to you, which goes along with the whole 'not wanting to see you' thing."
Nicholas frowned. "How do I know you're not just making that up?" he asked.
Danny's friend shook his head, caught off guard when Nicholas tried to muscle his way inside. "Danny!" he called out. The new friend was bigger than Nicholas, and Nicholas had been drinking, so it wasn't a fair match. He tried to fight back when he was picked up off his feet, but by the time he realized what was happening, he was being tossed onto the lawn.
"Piss off!" The friend walked back inside and slammed the door, surprised to find Danny standing in the front room.
Nicholas meant to sit down on the fountain, but misjudged the distance, and instead sat on the ground, leaning against the fountain. He cradled his head (which was hurting quite a lot, though he wasn't sure if it was from drink, or from the tumble he took on Danny's front lawn) in his hands, and looked at his shoes. Maybe he would put in for a transfer somewhere else. He'd heard good things about Cornwall. Maybe he could even find some place where the entire town wasn't off its nut.
He jumped sharply when he suddenly noticed that someone was next to him. He looked up, surprised to find Danny, in his jacket and pyjamas.
"What you doing shouting up the neighbourhood?" Danny asked. "You arrest people for that, and now you're doing it?"
Nicholas shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Who was that?"
Danny shook his head. "Weren't nobody," he said. "Just a friend."
"You never..."
"No," Danny said simply. "Just a friend."
Nicholas sniffled sharply. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I know I buggered things up, but I don't want to lose you."
Danny put an arm around Nicholas' shoulders. "You never lost me, love," he said lightly. "I just needed some space, yeah."
Nicholas leant into Danny's shoulder."I'm so sorry," he repeated.
Danny gently rubbed Nicholas' shoulder. "I know," he said softly. He looked around the lighted street. "This is where we first met, inn'it?" he asked. "Only I were the drunk one." Nicholas only nodded. "Come on," Danny said after a moment. "Let's get you home." He pulled Nicholas to his feet and, supporting his weight, walked Nicholas home.
