Astronomy and the Study of Microexpressions

Author Notes

I have officially gone insane.
I stumbled on a writing exercise which had 50 prompts. So I did all of them.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lie to Me or any of the characters. (If I did, you'd know).

Story

Star

Emily Lightman was on the roof of her house, waiting. Part of the reason she was braving Washington D.C.'s weather was that her father was being unbelievably dense. And bitchy. And in dire need of getting laid. (See, she pays attention when he talks. Why doesn't he do the same?)

Anywho.

The other reason was that a meteor shower was going to pass in an hour.

Emily had her trusty iPod with her, so 60 minutes passed without her taking notice of it. The rocks entering the atmosphere ignited themselves, amazing all watchers. A cavalcade of shooting stars graced the night sky, lighting the smile on her face.

"Let's see… I wish my dad found someone he loved. Oh, and I also wish for Loker to find someone. He's nice, he deserves love."

Rain

Cal Lightman is kind of a jerk.

It was raining torrentially and he didn't have an umbrella, so he took Loker along with him. Problem was that on the way back he stole it from the younger man, leaving him completely drenched.

Loker sighed.

Of course. It was just like Lightman to do this.

He walked back to the office, dragging his feet.

"What happened?"

"Guess."

"Lightman." – Ria Torres was angry at their boss on behalf of her friend. – "God, he's such an ass."

"I know."

"Whoa, why did I see sadness flashing through your face?"

"Because you're good." – He was tired of faking his feelings, so he let his walls down and let her see all that he truly felt for Cal, causing her to gasp. – "Yeah. Where is he, by the way?"

"Break room."

Gillian Foster was coming out of the room when she saw a dripping Loker approach. She decided to stand by the door and see the scene unfold.

"What took you so long, Mate?"

And that? That right there made the wet man so angry, not even his feelings for the older man could save him.

"The more water falls on you, the slower you get." – He got closer to Lightman and shook himself like a dog, drying himself while submitting his boss to a shower. – "As you'll find out."

Gillian had abandoned all discretion, laughing openly with Torres, who had arrived just in time to see it. Loker was smiling as he left, hearing the women's giggles. Cal was shocked by his employee's doing.

"Did you see what he did? Bloody hell!"

That sent another fit of laughter through the women. The Brit was left thinking 'Now, this new Loker is someone I'd like to know…'

Kiss

The first time Loker pressed his lips against Lightman's was a rather normal Wednesday. Normal as in bomb threats, psychotic killers and hasty decisions.

Hasty like sending in Loker to talk to a suspect alone; which led to the blue eyed man to be held hostage. Well, until he got free from the rope holding him and was able to break a full vodka bottle on the guy's hand. The pain from having alcohol poured on his new open wounds made the killer pass out.

Eli called his boss and let him deal with the police and the paramedics.

The instant that he saw Cal arrive, he got up from the ambulance he was in and walked towards the Brit.

Kissing a man wasn't new to either of them. Or kissing roughly. But kissing like your own soul depended on it? Yeah, that was new.

"Oi! Don't get bloody kidnapped next time!"

"Next time don't bloody send me!"

Speed

From that first kiss it took them only one hour to fall in bed together ('Bloody slow paramedics!') and from that, six hours to get up again ('Wow. Just wow.' 'Did I rock your world, Mate?' 'Much better than I'd imagined').

"Where do we go from here?" – Loker prepared a bowl of cereal for himself.

"To the office."

"You know what I mean."

"You look very tempting when mad." – He got a spoon and started stealing cereal while his lover just glared at him. – "See what I mean? Precious, that is. Anyway, I have no idea where to go now."

"Wanna see where it leads?"

"Yeah, I do, Love."

"Love?"

"You don't like it?"

"I love it." – Well, in for a penny, in for a pound; like the Brit would say. – "You too."

Confusion

She closed the door as fast as she could after seeing her father and Loker in all stages of undress.

"Put a sign up!"

"Emily? What's the problem?"

"Gil? No problem." – Doctor Foster put her hand on the on the doorknob, only to be screamed at by Emily. – "Don't!"

"Okay… Let's go to the break room, then."

At the teenager's nod, they started to move away from the portal to Lightman's office. Torres was drinking her coffee near the sink when they came in, but moved to one of the chairs near the other women.

"What's the big, Em?" – Ria sipped her drink.

"I just saw my dad and Loker having sex!"

The spit-take that took place after the revelation was award-worthy.

"What? Oh my God! I mean, Loker told me he loved Lightman but I never thought-"

"Cal has been staying over here after office hours-"

"We're bad at this. How did we not see it?"

Taste

Lightman has this annoying habit of kissing Loker just after the younger man starts to eat something. Anything, really. It started with a simple kiss after a cup of coffee.

"You need to stop putting so much sugar in this. It's not good for you, Love."

Eli went red and rolled his eyes but agreed to it. Now knowing that he wouldn't get slapped, Cal got more daring, even interrupting the blue eyed man's talk with Torres once.

He got a whack over the head that one time. Not by Loker, but by Ria ('We're talking here.').

However, he didn't let that stop him on his quest to conquer those lips.

"Cal, I'm not going to leave you."

"I know that, Mate."

"Then why are you afraid?" – Loker smiled sadly. – "I may not be one of the best around here, but even I could see that."

"Because I'm a fuck up, Eli." – Out of all of the things Lightman called him; this was the one that made his knees go all weak. – "And sooner or later you'll get tired of me."

He sighed.

"As you would say 'Bloody hell! You're worse than a woman!'"

"Your accent needs work."

"Are we in for another round of role playing sex?"

Chocolate

"I'll trade you my Snickers for your Mars."

"Deal. My Three Musketeers for your Toblerone."

"How many do you have?"

"Three."

"I believe we can do business." – Loker slid his bar across the table and gathered the ones Emily had left there. – "Hey, did you get any lollypops?"

"Yeah, four cherry flavored ones. Candied apple?"

"Here." – He quickly opened one of the lollypops and put it in his mouth. – "Thank you."

"Are the USA and USSR done dividing the spoils of war?" – Emily rolled her eyes at her father while Eli continued to swirl his tongue around his candy, drawing Cal's attention. – "Hey there, Mate."

"That's my cue to go to my room. Happy Halloween, dad." – She hugged him then his lover. – "You too, Loker."

After hearing her door close, Lightman focused once again on his lover.

"I got something else you can suck on, Eli."

Loker blushed but kept up the banter.

"I do have a soft spot for suckers."

"Oi!"

Weakness

Loving someone is a liability when you work with law enforcement, but that never stopped them from creating bonds.

Emily, Loker and Foster are Lightman's biggest weak spots. Specially Eli, with the kidnappers' predilection of him. (Seriously, five times in six months is too much). Sure, he knows his husband can take care of himself (knocking out three of the five kidnappers isn't an easy feat to accomplish); but one always worries.

Cal, Emily and Torres are Loker's weak spots. Ria can hold her own and his lover can talk himself out of (and into) dicey situations, so he focus on getting taken instead of Emily. The teenager found out about his plans and told her father, earning him a reprimand and a 'Thank you, Mate'.

"I knew you wouldn't be this bloody dense without a good reason, Love."

"Thanks?"

Market

Emily and Loker were charged with restocking the fridge in the Lightman household. Which both thought was great, considering that if they left Cal to do the shopping, they would live on cold beans and burnt toast.

"Chicken breasts?"

"Check."

"Tomatoes?"

"Check. And check on the pasta too."

"Great! Let's pay and get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Loker."

After they got back home, the teenager locked herself in her room while the blue eyed man gave his lover the ingredients for dinner.

"What?" – He asked when the younger man started snickering.

"You look very manly in that pink apron."

"Piss off, will ya?" – Eli walked behind Cal and pressed kisses to his neck, in an attempt to apologize. – "Alright, fine, you can stay."

Loker counted it as a victory.

Hair

Loker suffered during pre and middle school because his hair wasn't straight like the other kids'. Even in high school, after his body had developed into the tall and strong figure he still has today, it discouraged many guys from going out with him.

(He tried not to care, by saying it was good that the vapid guys were all voluntarily excluded from his dating pool, but it still hurt.)

Lightman loves to run his hand through the younger man's curly hair. In their afterglow, he does it until Eli falls asleep. Sometimes it takes hours because they keep talking.

Even when they're just watching a movie on their couch, Loker leans on his lover, making Emily laugh because he's way taller than her dad.

She stays on the floor, watching them as much as the movie.

She finds them cute together.

The star she wished upon granted her wish perfectly.