Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with 'Psych' or it's characters. No money is being made from any of this.

A/N: This was written for ShassieWeek. The first prompt being Pranks/Prank War for April Fool's Day. It's late, but what can I say?

April Fool's Day.

The mere mention of it brought dread to Carlton Lassiter. Since he was a child, the so-called holiday for sadistic sociopaths had taken its place as the worst holiday ever; only seconded by St. Patrick's Day. With trepidation and hesitation, Carlton entered the station.

Cops seemed to be some of the most evil pranksters on April Fool's Day and he had been the butt of many of them for years. This year had the fantastic addition of Shawn Spencer, the department's newest consultant. Just last week, when it wasn't April Fools Day, Spencer had superglued his coffee mug to his desk. He didn't dare think of what the pain in the ass had in store for him today.

It didn't help in the least bit that Carlton had found himself lusting after the man. He cursed every time the other man reached out and touched him or used him as a prop for one of his 'visions'. He wondered if Spencer even 'swung that way' or maybe it was just the way Spencer did things. He didn't have to question his own orientation. Carlton knew who he was and that Spencer was not the first man to grace his imagination during his late-night fantasies. The only in question was whether he'd do anything about the attraction or let it lie.

Carlton sat his briefcase on his desk and walked over to the break room to make himself a coffee. He looked everywhere and couldn't find his 'Shoot First, Drink Coffee Later' mug nor his 'Detectives Do It With A Chalk Outline' mug. Since they both appeared to be the first victims of this sadistic day, he looked in the cabinet for a mug. What he found when he opened the cabinet didn't compute in his mind at first.

A brand new mug with a handgun grip for a handle sat wrapped in a cellophane bag with a blue bow. A tag that simply read: "For the SBPD's Head Detective". He took the mug down and opened the bag. He had no idea who would have left the wonderfully perfect mug for him, but for the first time a smile crossed his face on an April Fool's Day.

After rinsing the mug and then pouring coffee into it, he carried it with pride to his partner's desk. He must have still had the smile on his face because when she looked up at him, raised an eyebrow.

"What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

"Uh, not that I can see." He brought the mug to his lips and took a drink of the coffee.

O'Hara noticed the mug.

"New mug? It suits you, partner. Where'd you buy it?"

"I didn't. It was a gift. The tag didn't say who it was from, but it was left for me in the break room." He noticed a look of suspicion cross her face. "Don't worry, I'm not an idiot. I rinsed it out before I used it. Just in case."

The morning moved on with tame jokes about dropping a pocket and un-zipped flys, but at lunch his sandwich order had gotten screwed up, 'accidentally'. He was forced to go out and grab lunch at a nearby cafe.

As he waited for his order, a nicely dressed elderly lady tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you Detective Lassiter, dear?"

"Yes, ma'am. I am. Can I help you?"

"I was asked to bring this to you." She held out an envelope to him and turned to walk away.

"Wait. Who asked you to give this to me?"

She looked around, apparently searching for the person who had made the request.

"He didn't give his name, but he was a very nice young man."

Carlton watched her leave and then opened the envelope. Inside was a note and a coupon he could use to pay for his lunch. He read the note, which was haphazardly written.

"I want to help April Fool's Day suck less. No joke. I'll meet you tonight at eight."

He didn't like the idea of meeting random strangers and the note hadn't specified an actual meeting place. He was, however, curious and he fully intended to use the coupon to get his lunch for free.

Carlton made it back to the station and noticed that his Crown Vic had been moved to a different spot in the parking lot. Usually, he would have gotten angry, but somehow he actually found the prank sort of silly and funny. For the third time today, he smiled and managed to eat his lunch at his desk uninterrupted.

Once he and O'Hara finished the paperwork on the last case they closed, even with the distraction of Spencer and his partner, Carlton made his way to the station's gun range.

As he signed in, the range officer handed him a box of ammunition.

"I didn't ask for that." He looked at the box and noted that it was the brand he used for his personal firearms.

"Already paid for and it has your name on it, detective."

Carlton palmed the box which did have his name written on it.

"Did you see who left it?"

"Yes. But he told me not to tell you. Wanted to make it a surprise, he said."

He probably could have gotten away with ordering the officer to tell him who left the ammunition, but decided to let this surprise play itself out. His paranoia kicked in, however, and he decided not to use the gifted bullets. Just in case they were a prank; no need to damage one of his guns.

Carlton smiled again even after he returned to his desk and found someone had changed his monitor's screensaver to display a trio of cute and fluffy bunnies. He actually laughed when the bunnies moved and danced across the screen.

At seven he packed up and headed home. If his secret admirer had wanted to meet up with him, they could have written down a location.

He drove home and wondered if he should have stayed at the station and waited to meet whomever it was who had made today slightly more manageable. He was lost in thought when he pulled into his driveway and he realized that he hadn't seen Spencer all day. He figured a day like today would have been like his Christmas.

Could Spencer have been the one who sent him the small gifts today? He squashed the thought down hard to the back of his mind. There was no way in hell that somehow Spencer had figured him out. He couldn't really read minds and Carlton wasn't one to wear his feelings on his sleeve or in sight of others.

The only slip up he could remember was when Spencer had sat on his lap. Even if the other man brought that up as an example, he could easily explain that away. At least he thought he could.

Carlton showered and changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and threw a frozen dinner into the microwave. He glanced at the time and when it became eight o'clock, his doorbell rang.

Who the hell knew where he lived?

He pulled the gun from the side table near the door and looked out the peephole. He opened the door, but didn't cock the gun.

"Spencer? Why are you here? How did you know where I lived?"

"Lassie. Come on, do we really need to have THAT discussion again? And besides, I was the one that said I'd meet you at eight. How would it look if I didn't show?"

Carlton was too stunned to say anything, even when Spencer walked into his house without being officially invited and handed him a pineapple with a small bow tie.

He closed and locked the door and put away the gun, but he couldn't stop staring at Spencer.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to make sure you liked the gifts I left you?"

Spencer suddenly seemed nervous and didn't make eye contact. Carlton finally moved and placed the pineapple on his counter. He stepped closer to the other man who started to fidget with his jacket sleeve.

"I did. The mug was nice, although I'd like to know where my other ones disappeared to. The coupon for lunch was a nice touch. How did you know my sandwich order would get screwed up, Spencer?"

He saw Spencer blush and found that he liked seeing him slightly vulnerable. From nothing more than that, he felt himself start to get aroused by being in close proximity to Spencer.

"I didn't actually use the ammunition, though. I had no way of knowing if they wouldn't explode or something."

"Understandable."

Spencer looked like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent. They stood facing each other until Carlton felt uncomfortable.

"We'll, if that was all, I'd like to eat dinner."

He moved towards the door and heard something from Spencer's direction that sounded like 'man up'. He was about to snap back a response but instead found Spencer's arms on his and his lips pressed against his own.

Carlton's eyes were open and so were Spencer's. He searched his face to find any clues that this was a joke. Just another April Fool's day prank at his expense. He found none. Just Spencer's eyes so focused on his.

He didn't know what came over himself, but he relaxed against Spencer's warm body and brought his own arms around the other man. Spencer moaned into the embrace which triggered Carlton's libido and he felt the beginning of an erection start to form in his pants.

He still wasn't sure that the whole thing wasn't some sort of practical joke, but he intended to find out. He pulled Spencer closer and opened his mouth against the soft lips attached to his. Spencer- Shawn's tongue immediately entered his mouth and Carlton heard himself growl in response.

He realized Shawn still had his jacket on and reached to push it off the man's shoulders. The movement brought their hips together and Carlton felt Shawn hard against him. He smiled and relished the warm feeling that accompanied the thought that Shawn was so aroused just from kissing him.

Shawn's jacket was removed and thrown across the back of the couch and Shawn managed to slip the knot from his tie and unbutton his shirt. Shawn's hands seemed to be everywhere on his body at once. He couldn't help but return the touching along with the kissing. Shawn slid his hands down Carlton's sides. He jumped when Shawn grazed a ticklish spot and pulled away from kissing Shawn.

"Why today? This isn't a joke is it, Spencer?"

Shawn's eyes darted between Carlton's and he stepped forward again. He ran a hand down to Carlton's waistband then further south. A finger traced the outline of his cock through his pants.

"This doesn't feel like a joke, Lassie."

Shawn pulled one of Carlton's hands down and placed it on his own erection.

"Does this?"

Carlton closed his eyes and palmed Shawn over his jeans. It felt nice to know someone was aroused by him. It was an intoxicating boost to his ego and when he opened his eyes, all he saw was Shawn's lust-blown pupils.

"But why today?"

"I wanted to see you smile today. Jules mentioned in passing how you hated this holiday and I personally love it. I wanted to get you to enjoy it, maybe just a little bit."

Carlton pressed himself and his lips against Shawn and for the first time he got to thoroughly enjoy an April Fool's Day.